


Of Space and Time

by liziscribbles



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mass Effect Fusion, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Friends with benefits turns to more, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, background Aracindy, background Gladnis - Freeform, background Lunyx, background other ships - Freeform, mainly Promptis, major Promptis, so much will they won't they
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:40:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 79,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9404111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liziscribbles/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: The crew of the MSV Regalia chases a galactic terrorist organization across the galaxy.AKA: Chocobros in space.





	1. Mischief

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, Tumblr and I have concocted a monster. It started on a random whim, and I posted the idea on Tumblr. People seemed into it, which meant that my brain took the idea and spun it into a crazy web of madness.
> 
> Character cheat sheet located [here](http://heyjealousyyy.tumblr.com/post/156108662110/im-doing-the-thing). I have so many more things I want to say about this, but we'll see if it's as good as it is in my head before I get _too_ into planning it.
> 
> Huge thanks to [nicoleiacross](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross) for being a sounding board for my crazy here.

"To the left, Noct!"

"Got it!"

Noctis turned to his left, charging up a shockwave for about two seconds before releasing it. The group of two LOKI mechs and a FENRIS mech flew off in all different directions, coming to land on the ground. The FENRIS exploded, taking out the LOKI nearest it in a fiery blast of heat. The second LOKI rolled itself over on the ground, starting toward Noctis where he crouched behind a small metal barricade.

Before Noctis could even react, a purple orb of light shot out from the other side of the barricade and impacted the crawling LOKI, sending it soaring up into the air. Up and up and up it went, until the purple light disappeared from around it. Back down it crashed, into the ground with another explosion that left a black char mark on the ground in its wake. Noctis grinned a little bit and turned his head toward his partner.

"Nice one, Prompto!" he exclaimed, holding his hand out for a fist bump.

Prompto smirked, bumping fists with Noctis and shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly. "It was nothin'," he announced, before peering back over the barricade and taking quick stock of the situation on the other side. He spent about two seconds out of cover before he ducked back down with a hiss. "More incoming!" he told Noctis, calling up his omni-tool and sending his drone out.

The drone floated quickly over to the group of three mechs that had just edged their way out of the door in the corner of the room. One zap—as well as a flash from a camera—and one of the mechs froze in place and started throwing off static. Noctis aimed his machine gun at it and fired, taking off its legs and sending it to the ground. Another shot, straight for its head, and it was out with another blast. The blast knocked the mech beside it to the ground, where it started crawling toward them. Prompto poked his head out of cover and threw a warp blast at the first mech. Noctis threw the other one back with another biotic blast, and the two exchanged smirks again.

"We're gettin' good at this." Prompto called his drone back and glanced around the room. It was empty now.

And it was quiet. Suspiciously so, honestly. Noctis peered around the side of the barricade they were hiding behind, and when nothing came out, he allowed himself to pop out of cover completely. "Hey, what's going on?" he called out into the air. Were they already done? Was that all they had? Six mechs?

Prompto laughed a little bit as he stood up from behind the barricade. "Better be careful not to tempt fate, dude. Next thing you know, we'll be facing a-..." He trailed off, blinking and backing toward cover again.

"Prompto?" Noctis blinked a couple of times. If he'd been paying attention, he would have noticed the ground shaking just slightly.

He beckoned for Noctis to follow him, but any subtlety in his movements was completely and totally undone by the shout of "ATLAS!" that followed. 

Noctis whirled around, blinking at the giant mech as it ducked down and stepped out of the same room the three mechs had come from before. He took off in a sprint toward the barricade, laughing a single note at Prompto and musing, "could've made a bigger effort to tell me, dude," as he ducked behind it.

Before Prompto could even respond, a blast of heat came from the other side of their hiding spot. Noctis turtled his neck down and jumped slightly at the sound, before gathering his breath and peering around the left edge of the barricade. No matter how many times they'd done this, he never got used to ATLAS blasts. But that was fine. They were both in cover, and even though the ATLAS was firing a long stream of machine gun blasts their way, they were safe for now.

Except they weren't.

From three other doors in the room, groups of three mechs appeared and started shuffling in their synthetic steps to get to the middle of the room. They were mostly covered still. Their barricade was one of three that formed a small triangle in the middle of the room. But how long they were safe was another matter.

"Well excuse me," Prompto commented as he pulled his omni-tool back up and typed a quick code in. "For being a little bit taken off-guard by the random freaking _ATLAS mech_ crashing the party out of nowhere!"

Reaching his arm out over his head, Prompto aimed at the ATLAS and in a split second, and _for_ a few seconds, its machine gun stopped firing. When it started again, the fire wasn't vibrating the barricade anymore. Instead, on the left, one-two-three mechs got their arms and then legs blasted off. The mech turned to the right and took out the three on the right side, and then Noctis turned to Prompto with a huge grin.

"You're on _fire_ today!" Noctis encouraged his friend, before popping out of cover. "Think you can handle the three little ones while I take the big one?" He popped his knuckles, nodding over his shoulder at the ATLAS and flashing Prompto the cockiest grin in the world.

Prompto nodded eagerly, smirking back at Noctis and moving over to one of the other barricades. "We've _got_ this!" he announced in an excited shout as he charged some biotic energy in his hand.

When Prompto engaged the smaller mechs, Noctis popped out of cover and let the biotic energy surge through his whole body. He tingled just slightly as he surged forward in a blast of purple energy, crashing into the ATLAS with a force that probably would have _really_ hurt, had the shield of biotic energy not broken his landing. The mech recoiled, stumbling and shaking the ground in front of Noctis with its steps. Before it could recover, Noctis charged up another blast, jumping into the air and punching the ground to send a wave of biotic energy rippling at its feet. The mech recoiled further.

Pulling his gun, Noctis fired until the loud beeping signified that it was overheating. It might've been overkill, though, because when he realized that it was overheating, the mech was already stumbling and deactivating. A proud smirk crossed his face, and he turned his head to see how Prompto was doing with the other mechs. He focused just in time to see Prompto firing on the last mech with his pistol, as it lay the ground in a heap, and then jumping back before the blast hit him.

"Alright!" Prompto cheered, throwing his arm up over his head as he sheathed his pistol. "That _has_ to be enough to beat Specs and the Big Guy!"

As Prompto spoke, the simulated bits of the Armax Arena faded around them so that they were just standing in a large open space with nothing around them. No barricades, no robot corpses, no blackened spots on the floor where the mechs had exploded. Even their armor had faded so that they were just in their standard Alliance uniforms. Noctis smoothed a couple of wrinkles from around his stomach and turned to look at Prompto with a beaming smile.

"You think?" Noctis asked, as the pair bumped forearms in celebration. 

Prompto reached his arm up and draped it around Noctis' shoulder with a smirk on his face. "You were all _over_ the place, dude. Like, I turned just in time to see you crash into that ATLAS and it almost _fell over_ with the force. You always look so awesome when you charge," he gushed. Prompto always did that, though. Noctis did something that he deemed 'so cool,' and Prompto made a huge deal about it. "I wish I could charge." The last part was added with a deep and put upon sigh.

Chuckling, Noctis shrugged. "It was alright," he replied. "Wish I could've seen you take out those three mechs, though." It was always entertaining to see Prompto use his biotics. Prompto didn't really think too much of his own skills, but with all the battles that Noctis had seen him in, he'd really grown since he'd joined the Alliance. He wasn't the _best_ , no. But he was so, so much better than he thought he was.

They stood in the center of the room, and Prompto shrugged. "It was a thing. Hacked one of 'em and watched as he took out the other. Then I slammed the last one into the ground." He used his hand to make the motion a biotic slam made. "So, let's see how much we beat 'em by."

Noctis craned his neck, smiling as he looked up at the scoreboard. "Three- _thousand_?" he shouted incredulously up at the sky.

"Wait, seriously? We beat them by th-"

Laughing, Noctis shook his head no. "I wish. We _scored_ three-thousand, more like. 3300, actually." He scoffed.

Blinking several times, Prompto looked up at the screen overhead and shook his head. "Dude, are you _kidding_ me? We didn't even beat Cor and Nyx! We were all over the place! And that charge you did? I'm just glad my drone got a good shot of it because you looked like a _total_ badass! Total two-thousand pointer, if you ask me!" He paused, staring back up at the scoreboard. "How in the _hell_ did Specs and the Big Guy manage five-thousand points?"

With a heavy sigh, Noctis shrugged and looked back at Prompto. "Beats me," he mused.

"Whenever we _do_ beat them, it's gonna be awesome. And we're gonna take it right back to the Regalia and shove it in their faces." Prompto wiped some moisture from his forehead with the arm not draped around Noctis' shoulders, then looked at the clock on the other end of the scoreboard. "It's noon. When do we have to be back on board again?"

Noctis thought for a second, before answering. "Fourteen hundred hours. I wanna go another round, but I'm also starved. So, maybe we should hit that pizza place we were talking about, grab a couple slices before we go back." He slid his arm from around Prompto's shoulders and let it hang back at his side.

A grin crossed Prompto's face and he nodded eagerly. "You're paying this time, though," he pointed at Noctis.

"I always pay." Noctis smirked in response as he turned toward the door of the simulation and beckoned Prompto to come along behind him.

Prompto shrugged and jogged to catch up with Noctis, his feet getting slightly tangled with each other and nearly sending him to the ground. "That's only because you're the best. And you wouldn't _be_ the best if you didn't always pay anymore." He wasn't serious, and the tone of his voice made that perfectly clear.

Noctis turned his head to hide the smirk that crossed his face. "Watch it, Grace."

With a sigh, Prompto rolled his eyes. "We've been over this, Noct," he muttered as he jogged another couple of steps to catch up with Noctis, without tripping over himself this time. "I'm Beauty. _You're_ Grace." He shoved Noctis slightly, laughing as _Noctis_ almost tripped this time.

"Believe me, Prom. I know you're not Grace," Noctis insisted with a wry smirk as he collected himself and pushed the door to the combat sim back open.

The Silversun Strip was bustling, as it tended to do during the summer months. Kids and teenagers off from high school, people who _should_ have been Noctis and Prompto's peers off from college, and parents trying to keep their heads from spinning off their necks as they tried to keep up. The arcade had a line that turned down the hall, and the pizza place that they'd been speaking of was pretty well packed, too. People were waiting outside in groups to be called in, and it made Noctis realize that maybe they would need to seek out alternate lunch options before they went back to the Regalia.

Noctis pointed with his thumb toward the restaurant. "I don't think we're getting in there and making it out before takeoff," he suggested.

Humming his agreement, Prompto grabbed Noctis by the shoulder and pulled him in the direction of the sky taxi station. "There's always that one ramen place in the lower wards. You know, the one we went to after school all the time?" An eager smile crossed Prompto's face, and he tugged harder on Noctis' arm like it was already decided.

That was fine, though. Noctis wasn't going to complain about ramen. He let Prompto use the machine to call them a taxi and smirked at his friend as it pulled up. They piled into the back, told the driver their destination, and once they settled in, Noctis stretched his whole body out. Arms over his head, legs across the floor of the backseat, a loud shouting grunt from his throat. It was as necessary as it was dramatic. When he released the tension, he turned to look at Prompto, who was smirking a teasing smirk.

"What?" he asked.

Prompto shrugged. "I have never seen anyone stretch as dramatically as you do, dude," he pointed out.

To that, Noctis laughed. "I'm trying to get all my stretches out now. I mean, I can sleep in the sleeper pods on the Regalia if I have to-"

"-you could sleep in a _dumpster_ if you had to," Prompto retorted.

Noctis scoffed, and continued like he hadn't been interrupted. "-but they're so _cramped_ that it's hard to get comfortable in them. That's why I always try to get to the beds in the crew quarters before anyone else does." He folded his arms behind his head and made himself comfortable in the taxi.

Prompto rolled his eyes. "I swear to the Six, if you fall asleep in this taxi and I have to drag you out when we get to the lower wards, I'm going to make you regret it for this whole tour. I'm talking letting Gladio give you wake up calls at six AM, or taking the last of those little pastry things you like before you even get to have one. You will _not live it down_ , Noct," he nudged Noctis with his shoulder and smirked.

"Wow, Prom. I thought we were friends." Noctis stretched his legs out again.

Nodding, Prompto kicked Noctis lightly in the shin. "We are. Which is why I'm keeping you awake so that you don't show up to debriefing half-asleep. You think _Cor_ would let you live it down? You'd be scrubbing the latrines with a toothbrush for a month," he pointed out with a chuckle.

That was a fair point, and Noctis blinked a couple times at the mention of it. "Suddenly, I'm not tired anymore," he mused, sitting up straight and unfolding his hands from behind his head.

"Welcome to the land of the living," Prompto joked.

The skycar stopped then, and Noctis used his omni-tool to pay the cabbie. They piled out, and Noctis looked around at the familiarity of it all. Noctis' childhood home was a ward away, and Prompto had grown up just down the street from him. These were their old stomping grounds, really. They'd take the rafters to get home from school rather than waiting for skycars. Noctis glanced up at the tunnel, smiling softly and elbowing Prompto in the shoulder. When Prompto turned, he pointed up at the rafters and shrugged his head to the side in suggestion.

"What do you say we take lunch to go and go up to the rafters like we did in high school?" Noctis suggested with a tiny smile and a shrug.

Prompto smirked. "I like the way you think, dude. Wonder if good old Keeper 22562 is still haunting the hallway."

In his excitement, his right leg caught on his left, and he stumbled a bit. He braced himself on Noctis' shoulder to keep himself standing, and continued on like nothing happened. Sometimes, Noctis pointed out his slip-ups and stumbles. Most of the time, though, he didn't. It was a point of sensitivity for Prompto, and Noctis really didn't want to make it any worse than it already was. They were beyond his control, and it was as simple as that. As he approached the terminal, he punched in both of their favorite ramen dishes and requested that it be packed to go, then took a seat at the counter while they waited. With a little grin, he turned to his friend.

"So, where do you think they're gonna send us this time?" Prompto asked, leaning his elbow against the counter.

Noctis shrugged. "Dad was talking about a lot of merc activity out by the Tenebrae Nebula when I visited him this morning. Pretty sure he was telling Cor that we're gonna have to go wipe it out." He stretched his back gently and watched as the little worker drones in the back of the restaurant put the ramen together.

Prompto nodded. "I don't think I've ever been to Tenebrae," he admitted.

With a shrug, Noctis said, "it's kinda dull, actually. I mean, Luna's family is from there, so it might be a little bit weird for her, but as long as we don't have to wipe any activity on Shiva, she should be okay." He reached out for the bag when the delivery volus brought their food to them, and turned to Prompto, nodding his head toward the door to the rafters.

It wasn't _exactly_ legal for them to go up there, but the door near the ramen shop had always been a little bit faulty, and Prompto's hacking capabilities always allowed them easy entrance. And as if it was old hat, Prompto subtly called up his omni-tool and gave the door a little zap. It opened, and the pair squeezed through quickly just like they had when they were kids. Down the halls, high above the bustling businesses of the Citadel they walked. Past the omni-game shop, past the used skycar lot, past the armor shop where they'd both gone on the day they passed the Alliance entry tests to get fitted. They rounded a corner and sat in their spot, sitting down and dangling their legs over the edge of the rafters.

"Gotta admit," Prompto mused as he mixed his ramen together, "much as I like shore leave, I'm really looking forward to getting back to the ship. It's been weird only seeing the crew in passing."

Noctis nodded. "Well, aside from you, anyway." He made a face at Prompto, but it quickly faded to a smirk.

Smirking, Prompto shrugged. "Whatever, you'd be lost without me." He nonchalantly slurped a small group of noodles and then scooped up his boiled egg.

It didn't matter how true that was. Noctis wasn't about to admit that to Prompto. "I mean, you'd have to not be there for me to find out," he teased in return, a wry smirk crossing his face.

Prompto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

The pair fell into comfortable silence as they ate. Every once in awhile, Prompto would call his drone out to take a picture of an amusing sight or something that caught his eye from the Citadel below. An asari and batarian couple playing with their child. A volus struggling to get up and into a skycar. A turian and a human sharing a laugh over a meal at the very restaurant they'd just left. Each thing was worthy of Prompto's photography attention, according to his friend. Sometimes, Noctis wondered if his camera ever ran out of storage. He took so many pictures that it had to come close sometimes.

"You remember the first time we came up here?" Prompto asked, breaking their silence.

Noctis nodded and smiled. "Like, first day of school junior year I think, right?" When Prompto nodded, he continued. "Dad was on a tour, so I was home alone. And I didn't wanna go back to an empty apartment, so we stayed here until like eleven."

Prompto smirked. "And then when you told me why you didn't wanna go home, I came over and crashed on your couch." He tipped back his plastic bowl and finished the last of his ramen.

"And since that day, I've pretty much never known what it was like to be without you," Noctis chuckled. Not that it was a bad thing.

With a nod, Prompto shrugged. "That's okay, though, right?" he asked.

Noctis nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's alright," he answered with a little grin.

Ever since that first one their junior year, they'd spent almost no time apart. The sleepovers became a habit in high school. And they'd spent even less time apart since Noctis' dad made sure that Prompto ended up on the Regalia with him. He was lucky, always having his best friend at his side. Most people in the Alliance didn't really get to say that, but his dad had seen to it that the people at Noctis' side were people that he could trust. It was nice, as much as it probably brought a little bit of heat his dad's way. But the Regalia was one of the best warships the Alliance had. Having a good, cohesively working unit helming her was important. That was what his dad said, that was what Cor and Nyx said, and that was what Noctis believed.

At the thought of the ship, Noctis called his omni-tool up to check the time. Nudging Prompto with his shoulder, he nodded at the time display and pointed over his shoulder.

"It's thirteen thirty, Prompto. We gotta get to the ship. Pretty sure we don't wanna deal with Cor the Immortal's wrath."


	2. Homecoming

The MSV Regalia was an impressive ship. The pride of the Alliance, with the finest materials going into making her almost unbreakable. She was the fastest, the easiest to maneuver, the toughest to dent... Prompto had heard Cor say all of these things over the course of their first debriefing a couple of years ago. But now, it felt less like a hunk of really expensive metal with really expensive wires and really expensive eezo, and more like a weirdly metallic flying home. The Citadel was nice. And yeah, it was good to have a soft bed to sleep in at night. But there was something about coming back to this giant hunk of metal at the end of a mission—or even at the end of a shore leave—that couldn't be beat.

As he sat in the mess hall, downing his migraine preventatives with a paper cup of water, he looked around.

Everything was still the same. Alliance higher-ups had mentioned that they wanted to make some renovations, and Prompto had spent a majority of the week long shore leave worried that they'd change too much. That he'd come back and all of a sudden the ship wouldn't look the same. But it did. Everything was the same and it just felt like _home_.

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the slight tingle of protest that his knees gave. Today was one of the worse days he'd had recently. Twice, he'd stumbled while walking around the Citadel with Noctis. He'd managed not to fall, which was great, but the stumbles were always annoying when they showed up. Once or twice was fine. But on days when his cybernetics decided that they hated him more than usual, he wanted nothing more than to just curl up in a pod or in one of the crew beds and sleep the whole day. Wanted. Never did. He didn't like to let the jelly legs win.

It wasn't common for them to _really_ affect him, anyway. It was always a minor stumble, easily corrected by a hand on a wall or grabbing hold of the shoulder of the nearest friend. Noctis and Luna were especially used to it. He found it easiest to rely on them. Luna always had a supply of medication on hand that eased the effects of the faulty extra bones, but Prompto hated asking for them. Really, _really_ hated asking for them. It wasn't like a jelly leg here and there was life-threatening. If it was, he wouldn't have been able to pass the Alliance physicals. But he had. With flying colors, no less. And no one on the ship ever seemed bothered by him.

Shaking his mind out of his own thoughts, he glanced over toward the med bay. Luna was talking with Nyx about something or other, and the pair of them laughed softly, quietly. Nyx leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek, before turning on his heel to leave the room. He waved at the XO as he passed, with a casual smile.

"Hey Prompto," Nyx greeted, stopping and turning around. "Noct with you?"

Prompto shook his head no, crushing the paper cup in his hand and tossing it into the trash compactor. "Think he's up in the war room with Cor and Iggy coming up with a battle strategy for when we get to Tenebrae." He pointed a thumb at the upper deck and shrugged a shoulder. "Least that's where he said he was going."

Tenebrae was still a ways off, though. Aranea had told them that, from the Citadel, it was a day and a half flight, which was good, because it gave them a chance to get their space-legs back. Prompto leaned his hip against the wall, glancing up at Nyx. Honestly, all of the higher ups on the ship had this... _cool_ air about them. Like the superheroes in video games or comic books that Prompto always read growing up. Nyx was like that, too. However many times Prompto had fought alongside him, it never stopped being a surprise when—seemingly out of nowhere—some robot or hostile creature dropped dead, or when out of nowhere, those random shots stopped coming and all of a sudden, Nyx was in the middle of the battle, delivering a dagger blow to the back of an enemy's head.

Nyx nodded his head once in understanding. "Why don't you come up with me? We were planning on meeting in the war room in about fifteen minutes anyway, to go over what they came up with. Wouldn't be too terrible if we overheard whatever their plans ended up being, right?"

Before Prompto could confirm or deny, Nyx draped his arm over Prompto's shoulders and guided him to the elevator. It was fine, Prompto wasn't about to say no anyway, but usually when Nyx or Aranea or Gladio grabbed him around the neck like this, it ended him up with the worst noogie imaginable or some kind of challenge to escape a death grip. Nyx a little less often than the others, but it was still a problem that had Prompto wary of the arm around his shoulders.

"Long as you don't headlock me," he answered, rolling his shoulders. Not shrugging Nyx off, but showing his obvious dislike of the idea of being picked on.

Nyx laughed and curled his arm just slightly in a mock-threat, before relaxing it again and lightly pushing Prompto into the elevator. "Relax, kid. If I was planning to scramble your brain, I would've done it already." He pushed the button to get them to the first floor and leaned back against the wall while they waited for the elevator to take them up.

Prompto scoffed. "You probably already _have_ ," he complained.

All that did was make Nyx laugh a fond laugh. "Yeah, probably," he agreed. "So, I hear you and Noct were trying to bust up Iggy and Gladio's record in the combat sim and you couldn't even get close to mine and Cor's." The smirk that crossed Nyx's face then was nothing short of taunting.

With a responding sigh, Prompto huffed in annoyance. "Whatever, you guys probably hacked it or something," he waved his hand at Nyx. "You should've _seen_ the charge-nova combo Noct was doing! If you'd seen it you'd call hacks, too!" He nodded his head vehemently. "Took out an ATLAS single-handedly and everything!"

"Better be careful, kid. People might start thinking you have a crush." The smirk on Nyx's face was weird. The same kind of smirk that he always gave when he talked about Prompto getting a crush on Noctis. "That's some borderline hero-worship talk you're doing. Save that for Cor the Immortal."

Prompto tried to act nonchalant, offended, roll his eyes and act like Nyx was talking crazy. Forget the fact that maybe he _did_ have the tiniest crush on Noctis. Just a little one. Tiny. Easy to ignore, really. And forget that, in Prompto's eyes, Noctis was about a hundred thousand times cooler than Nyx or even Cor. There was no way he was admitting that to anyone. Especially not to Nyx. So, for now, it was just eye-rolls and huffy scoffs. Playing it off like Nyx was insane or just trying to mess with him.

He shrugged a shoulder. "Just because I say someone's badass doesn't mean I have a crush on 'em," he insisted. "If that was true, I'd have a crush on just about everyone on this ship!"

As soon as the words escaped, Prompto realized how much of a mistake they were, but fortunately Nyx didn't take the bait. He just looked at Prompto with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, making sure he realized exactly how easy he was making it. "Whatever you say, kid," was all he said instead, throwing his arm back around Prompto's shoulders and tugging him out of the elevator when it opened.

Nyx released his arm from around Prompto's shoulders then, and the pair of them turned to the left to head into the war room. Prompto smiled as the door opened and he spotted the three strategists—and Gladio, who must have gotten there moments before—poring over information on a hologram on the screen before them. The hologram described the first planet they'd be visiting—a mining planet by name of Chaos—and as Prompto looked over the image in front of him, all he could do was blink in stunned silence. How Noctis did this, how he looked at all of this information and saw more than just words and confusion, Prompto would never understand.

Noctis lifted his head from his omni-tool, flashing a smile and a quick wave at Prompto. "We've got company," he told the other three, who were still eyeing some sort of blueprint on Noctis' omni-tool.

Ignis looked up first, nodded a greeting, and then looked back down at the blueprint. "It looks like there are two mines," he announced, pointing at the blueprints again. "The eastern one is larger, just slightly. Eighteen thousand square feet, while the one on the west side is fifteen thousand. The larger one has fewer corridors, and I believe it's composed of three rooms, whereas the smaller one is composed of five small rooms."

With a nod, Cor opened his own omni-tool back up, glancing at a document that he'd already had open. "According to Ambassador Caelum, the mercenaries hijacked an Alliance cruiser with some very sensitive weaponry in it and they've dispersed it among their ranks. I think our best plan would be a two-group strike," he explained, closing the document again and looking at the blueprint again.

"Two teams of three?" Noctis asked, his voice uncertain.

Cor nodded. "Ulric, Argentum and I will take the smaller one. You three can take the larger one."

To that, Gladio nodded. "Yeah, okay," he agreed. "Noct, wanna send me the blueprint so I can study it? Find any places we'll need to breach or anywhere we'll be exposed?"

Noctis nodded, hitting a couple of buttons on his omni-tool. "I'll just send it to everyone, actually. We all have a couple days to look them over, so there's no way we'll be taken _too_ off-guard." He sent the message, and Prompto pulled his own omni-tool out to file the message away.

"So, what's Chaos like, anyway?" Prompto asked as he finally stepped past Nyx, up to the center of the war room to lean his hip against one of the consoles.

Gladio chuckled. "Did a mission there on my first tour," he explained. "Definitely named appropriately. So hot during the day that if you're not in the right armor, you'll probably roast in a minute. Then as soon as the sun goes down it gets so cold that it's almost like everything freezes. Like the worst desert you could imagine." He shook his head.

With a nod, Ignis said, "It was so difficult to find a research team who could successfully navigate the temperatures without issue that even the information we _have_ on it is limited. But anything that can survive on a planet like that for any extent of time is likely not to be trifled with. We'll want to take shuttles as close to our exact destination as we can to minimize time spent on land." He typed a quick note into his omni-tool, likely making note of that fact.

Ignis, in Prompto's experience, had been known to prepare, double prepare, sometimes _over_ prepare. But honestly, Prompto wasn't going to complain. The over-preparation that Ignis did always ensured that the group made it out of any situation in one piece, and as long as everyone on the ship was safe, happy, and healthy, Prompto was fine. Nyx walked around to join the others on the other side of the circle of consoles and nodded his agreement with Ignis and Gladio.

"If we use the cloaking devices that Cindy made, we should be able to get to the doors without alerting them. From there, the hard part starts."

Cor nodded. "We don't know exactly how many mercs are waiting in there, so we're gonna need to be prepared for anything. I'm talking extra medigel, double the 'nades we usually bring..." As he listed, he ticked each item off on a finger. "Part of me wants to say we should try the rapid cool-down weapons that we got from the Ambassador, but I don't think we should risk anything potentially defective when we're out there, so we should just stick with what we have there."

Honestly, something about being here with all of the strategists, all of the great minds on the team, kind of made Prompto feel a little bit out of place. They continued talking about plans and what they needed to bring, what they'd need to order from the munitions terminal... and while Prompto knew how to do all of those things, and how to get them, he found himself wondering why he was even here to begin with. He followed orders, he didn't help create them. As he zoned out a little and stared down at his hands, the familiar jelly feeling overcame his legs and he had to grab hold of the edge of the console to be sure that it didn't show.

Noctis, on the other side of the table, spotted it. He didn't call attention to it, didn't say anything. The only sign he really gave Prompto that he had any idea what was going on was a slight tugging-in of his lower lip. He released it quickly, then turned to look at Cor. "With all that out in the open, think we're okay to call this good? I'll let Cindy know to give the shuttles a once-over so that they're in working condition, and anything else that we need we can talk about between now and then, right?"

With a nod, Cor glanced around the room. "Alright. Dismissed," he told the group.

Ignis and Gladio, though, didn't move. They continued poring over Ignis' omni-tool, looking at all the information they had, and it made Prompto laugh a little bit in spite of himself. If Prompto didn't know better, he would think that those two had absolutely no sense of fun whatsoever. Their relationship, though, was no secret to any of the crew. They didn't hide it, didn't pretend or anything. Which was why the way that Gladio slid his hand around Ignis' waist as they looked over the information was a surprise to absolutely no one in the room. The Regalia had always sort of had this 'above the law' air to it; they were the Ambassador's chosen, with his son on their crew, after all. The only time they really _had_ to follow the law by the letter was on inspection day. But those were rare. And even then, most discrepancies were sort of 'turned the other way' from.

Prompto had no _clue_ what he'd done to be so lucky as to get on a ship like that. He wasn't special. He wasn't N7 like Gladio, Ignis or Nyx. He wasn't decorated like Cor. He wasn't an ambassador's son like Noctis. But he'd been thrown along for the ride and he was going to enjoy it for as long as they'd let him.

A tap on his shoulder shook him from his thoughts, and he turned to look at Noctis who was regarding him with a concerned head tilt. "Everything okay, Prom?" he asked.

Smiling again, Prompto nodded his head quickly. "Yeah. Yeah, just trying to process all this crap about Chaos. I mean, any planet that calls itself Chaos isn't gonna be a walk in the park," he chuckled softly, pushing off from the table and nodding to the door. "Wanna go get some grub? That's where I was before, taking my migraine meds."

Noctis, though he had the vaguest bit of suspicion in his eyes, nodded his head yes. "Sure. It's been a couple hours since our ramen adventure anyway. We can go raid the fridge for something to tide us over until Specs hits the kitchen and drives Mess Sergeant Weskham insane," he mused, half-smiling.

With a smirk and a nod, Prompto watched the floor in front of him in thought as he walked. "You'd think they'd be able to work together. Imagine what they'd be able to come up with if they got over themselves? Weskham knows how to make meals a little better than Ignis, Ignis knows how to make sweets and pastries better than Weskham. If they worked together, can you imagine it?" he asked.

"We'd probably all weigh about five hundred pounds and then the ship would be pulled into the gravitational field of the first planet we got close to," Noctis joked, nudging Prompto in the side as he opened the elevator door.

Prompto laughed. "But would it be worth it?"

"Absolutely," Noctis replied.

The two of them chuckled softly as the elevator doors closed behind them. Prompto took the same position he'd taken on the elevator ride up, leaning against the wall. Only this time, he was examining Noctis' expression. "So, what d'you think of this Chaos mission?" he asked.

Noctis shrugged his shoulder and backed into the wall, leaning beside Prompto. "I dunno," he admitted. "I mean, I'm sure we'll be fine, but I hate missions when the whole ground team isn't together." He turned his head, his eyes on Prompto as he spoke.

Honestly, Prompto felt much the same. About the team, sure. But _especially_ about Noctis. Noctis was a capable soldier; Regis had seen to it. He'd been taught by the master, and could probably fight anything that any enemy threw in front of him without any trouble. But something about not being there to watch Noctis' back wasn't settling well with Prompto.

"I know what you mean," Prompto said with a soft breath outward, pushing off the wall when the elevator doors opened. "But it'll be alright, right? I mean, if nothing else we can observe the top two combat sim teams and steal some of their secrets." He nudged Noctis' side with his elbow as he walked over to the refrigerator in the mess hall and opened the door.

At first, Noctis didn't answer; just stood off to the side and leaned his hip against the counter quietly. Prompto turned around with his two procured chocolate pudding cups, tossing one to Noctis. It was then that he noticed Noctis' eyes on him. He sidled over to the cabinet and picked up two spoons, moving back toward Noctis and handing him a spoon. Noctis' eyes never left Prompto's trail the whole time.

"And if you don't stop staring at me, I'm going to start wondering if I have snot hanging from my nose and did through that whole debriefing, so... why don't you tell me what you're thinking so we can sit down at the table and enjoy these pudding cups like _adults_."

Prompto didn't particularly mind the staring, really. Noctis' staring wasn't the staring that most people did when he stumbled or fell or did something stupid. And he minded even less when Noctis responded to his comments with that laugh. The one where his nose crinkled just slightly and his eyes sparkled like some kind of sapphire or something. The one he was giving right now. Prompto turned his head and glanced at his reflection in the toaster on the counter, deciding to ham it up a bit and secure that laugh a little bit more. " _Was_ there snot?" he asked dramatically, tapping beneath his nose.

"No." Noctis shoved him lightly, sending him slightly off balance and making him have to catch himself on the counter. "It's nothing. Now, let's go enjoy these pudding cups like _adults_."

With a grin over his shoulder, Prompto nodded. It wasn't nothing, he knew that much. But if Noctis wasn't going to tell him what it _was_ , then there was no way he could _make_ him. The least Prompto could do instead was distract him so whatever it was didn't bother him too much. If nothing else, Prompto figured, that was his purpose on the ship. And it was something that he could do well. Better than anyone else, maybe. That thought renewed his confidence, and brought a slightly wider smile to his face. He could improve where he needed to, but for now, keeping Noctis less tense was something he could _definitely_ do.

And he'd enjoy every second of it.


	3. Hapless

"So, how have the headaches been?"

Luna had completely abandoned the file she was reading, and she'd turned the whole of her attention toward Prompto now. Her poise and smile were gentle and kind as ever, but they didn't give Prompto the sense of ease that it often did when she turned it toward him. Prompto had never been overly fond of talking about his headaches. Or his jelly legs or the shocks or anything that went along with his faulty implants. He knew that sometimes, he had to. Sometimes, he didn't really have much of a choice. And when Luna asked him her usual questions... well, that was one of those times.

So, he didn't make a huge deal out of it. "Okay, for the most part," he explained. "I mean, shore leave was pretty stress-free biotic wise. All I really did was a few stints in the combat sim with Noct. And that was easy peasy." He moved from where he'd been standing to lie down and stretch out dramatically on one of the beds in the med bay.

With a fond chuckle, Luna leaned her elbow on her desk and put her head in her hand. "For the most part, you said. Have the migraines been coming back, Prompto? I'm going to need you to be completely honest with me, because if they are, then we'll have to up your dosage of suppressants." Her tone was kind as ever, but her expression was stern and serious. Like she wasn't going to let him get away with anything but the whole truth.

But the whole truth was that, "I've been working on conditioning." Over shore leave, he'd been doing biotic conditioning exercises. "Noct was helping me, actually. He was teaching me to do the stuff his dad taught him to do. Lifting small things and holding them in place or charging my blasts a little bit longer than usual." As if to accentuate his point, he called up a light purple swirl of biotic energy in his hand.

"That's not an answer," Luna pointed out, her tone still kind but her expression slightly sterner now. "And you told me that you had a biotic-free shore leave, aside from the combat sim."

Prompto bit his lip sheepishly. "The headaches are fine, Luna," he promised her. "Haven't had one since last week. And that one was so minor that two Tylenol handled it. So, I'll be okay. I wasn't lying about it being a biotic free leave, though. Yeah, Noct helped me learn a couple of conditioning exercises, but that's a good thing because I think it'll make the headaches happen less often, y'know?" He shrugged a shoulder. "The legs are the only real problem. And only when I'm doing nothing. When I'm training or fighting, I'm fine. But when I'm, y'know, just hanging out? I get wobbly sometimes." His eyes were on the ceiling, instead of on Luna, when he spoke.

She hummed a thoughtful note. "I can look into ways to counteract the leg troubles, if you want me to. I know that the researchers on the Citadel are trying to figure out ways to repair nerve damage from less-than-stellar quality implants. One of them is a friend of mine from college, whom I could contact if you wanted me to. Perhaps to see if she's figured anything out," she offered.

He nodded, glancing over at her again. "Yeah, okay. It's not an emergency, though. I mean..." He tapped himself in the left thigh twice and half-smiled at her. "I don't think I'm gonna have any serious problems anytime soon."

Luna nodded her head in agreement. "I don't think you will either," she reassured him. "Maybe if you'd proven to be anything but trustworthy so far, I'd be more concerned. But I've heard Cor and Nyx mention that they're endlessly impressed with what you've shown them. Nyx seems to think that you and Noctis will be catching up to his combat sim score with Cor soon. I overheard him pointing out to Cor that they'd need to return to the sim for the next shore leave." She crossed her legs at the knee and gave Prompto a conspiratory smile.

That surprised Prompto, honestly. Not because he didn't think that he and Noct had what it took to beat Cor and Nyx, or eventually Gladio and Ignis. He did, definitely. But because Nyx had even gone so far as to admit that aloud. Though it probably shouldn't have surprised him that Luna knew. Nyx and Luna had no secrets, but that was at least partially because Luna could usually tell with nothing but a look when _anyone_ wasn't being completely truthful with her. Nyx, Prompto had always figured, was extra exposed to that. Prompto chuckled a soft laugh as he sat back up on the bed.

"Can't wait to tell Noct that Nyx is actually intimidated by us," he mused with a little grin.

Luna placed her hand over her mouth. "Oops, there I go, revealing embarrassing secrets about my husband," she teased with a wry grin on her face. "So, speaking of Noctis." She stood, gathering her coffee cup and walking over to the coffee maker in the corner of her office. "Did you stay at his apartment for the whole of this shore leave?" Picking up a second cup, she filled them each with coffee and then started putting together Prompto's preference—extra milk and three sugars—before starting in on her own.

Prompto shook his head in response. "No." Not exactly a lie, but not exactly a truth either. "We spent a couple nights at my place, too. I mean... we were planning on going back to his place those nights too, but you know how Noct is when he falls asleep. We were watching that new action vid Noct had been talking about wanting to see for months and he totally crashed on the couch halfway through." Prompto laughed fondly. "So... so, instead of waking him up and making him walk down the street to get back to his place—not to mention having to walk _with_ him like that—I just let him sleep and went to crash in my room."

The smile on Luna's face was one of knowledge, and it made Prompto's cheeks heat up a little bit against his will. As far as he knew, she was the only one on the ship who _actually_ knew about his tiny—insignificant, _minuscule_ , easily ignored—crush on Noctis. She seemed convinced, most of the time, that it was more than it was, and on most occasions, she actually seemed convinced that Prompto should just _tell_ Noctis about it. Which was pretty dumb, actually. It was _just a crush_. Harmless. _Easy to ignore_.

"I know what you're thinking, Luna," he pointed out. "And no."

She offered Prompto's coffee out to him, raising her hand in defense once he took it from her hand. "If you say so, Prompto. But I maintain that keeping secrets like this from your dearest friend is a dangerous thing. What if, during some shore leave or mission to an exotic planet, someone looks at him and decides that they have to be with him? And that someone doesn't _have_ any qualms about telling him?" She took a tentative sip of her coffee, testing its temperature, before taking another more confident pull.

Prompto shook his head, using the small wooden stirrer to move the sugar around from where it usually piled up at the bottom. "I dunno why you always make a thing about this, Luna." He plucked the stirrer out of the tan liquid, running it along his tongue and breathing a quick sigh. "It's not like I, you know... love him or anything."

"Exactly," Luna responded, setting her coffee cup down on her desk. Her tone was layered. Very knowledgeable, but also like there was something that she understood that wasn't being said. "So, what does it hurt to just say, 'oh I have a crush on you,' and then just go back to doing what you normally do? You never know. Maybe he'd be open to the idea." She shrugged her lip upward.

It was like she didn't think Prompto knew better. He shook his head no. "He wouldn't," was Prompto's simple answer.

Luna sighed a soft sigh. "And you know this?"

"Yeah."

To this, Luna's agitation showed itself for a moment, as she shrugged some of her long hair over her shoulder. She didn't comment aloud, but behind her eyes, Prompto could see _some_ kind of commentary building.

He took a drink of his coffee, pulling his legs up onto the examination bed and crossing them butterfly-style. "Just because he's into guys doesn't mean he's into me. If he was into me, don't you think he'd've acted on it by now?" The words were spoken like they'd settle any argument Luna may have had. "He's brave. Doesn't let things scare him like..." Like Prompto did.

Luna was quiet for a moment, and she hummed a soft note. "You know, I was scared before I told Nyx about my feelings," she pointed out. "I was just a college student, and he was this incredible Alliance tough guy. Made for greatness. Set to be N7 and working under Cor the Immortal." A smirk crossed her face. "But one day, I just did it. And you know what? He loved me back." The smirk turned to a fond smile as she glanced at a picture of her with Nyx on their wedding day on her desk.

That gave Prompto pause. Luna had been into Nyx for a long time. Since she was in high school and Nyx was in Alliance training. They'd gotten together after Luna graduated, and Prompto had always thought that Nyx was the one to confess. All this time, he'd thought Nyx had been the one to come out and say it. But of _course_ it was Luna. Because when she wanted something out of life, she didn't let anyone or anything stop her. Not fear, not her brother's disapproval... nothing.

"But what if Noct _doesn't_ love me back?" Prompto paused, realizing what he'd just said, shaking his head hard and almost dropping his coffee in the process. "Like! I mean like. _Like_ me back..." Before Luna could comment on the slip-up, he continued speaking. "I don't think I could... if he rejected me, I'd... I'm pretty sure my spine would short circuit or something and then I'd fry the ship along with it and we'd be floating in deep space for the rest of forever." 

With a laugh at Prompto's rambles, and a grin that showed that she _very much_ caught onto Prompto's little slip, she shrugged a shoulder and took a sip from her coffee cup again. "I think you're being a touch dramatic," she said, holding up her fingers to signify 'a little bit.'

But Prompto shook his head vehemently. "I'm not, though! I'd go maximum malfunction. Bzzzt, shut down." He slumped over slowly, like a robot shutting down. "So... you know. For the sake of the crew, I totally should just keep it to myself." For the sake of the crew. Not because he was a coward or anything.

Before Luna could come up with any kind of retort, the door to the med bay opened and Ignis appeared. He looked between Prompto and Luna, then tilted his head to the side. "Ah, I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

Prompto shook his head and slid down from the examination bed, tilting his head back and drinking the rest of his coffee. "Nah. I was, um... I was just headed to the requisitions room, anyway. See if my new pistol upgrade's available, and if they managed to find that upgrade piece for my omni-tool." Plus, it gave him a chance to get out of Luna's hot seat. To avoid her questioning. "Thanks for the coffee, Luna. And, um... for-" For always listening to him, was on the tip of his tongue, but instead, he said- "looking into that stuff about my legs for me."

Ignis watched after him as he walked away, toward the elevator to get to the requisitions terminal in the cargo bay. Down the hall, he spotted Cindy and Iris chatting about upgrading the ship's shielding. He waved at them and smirked softly as both girls waved back his way, before continuing up the stairs to get to the flight deck.

Into the elevator he went, and as it went down, he found himself pondering what Luna had said. She made it sound so simple. Like it was just something that he could bring into casual conversation. _Hey, Noct. Cool mission we're about to go on, huh? Oh, by the way, I think you're cute._ As the elevator door opened up, he shook his head no. "Yeah, I'll do that. If I want Noct to think I'm going insane."

"I mean, I already figured that one out awhile ago," a familiar voice echoed out through the cargo bay. Prompto raised his eyes to see Noctis, with his head turned over his shoulder but his body still turned toward the munitions table.

Prompto lifted his head, blinking when he realized that Noctis was cleaning his machine gun, likely getting it ready for when they got to Chaos. He had to clean his gun too, of course. Maybe he'd do that after he hit up the requisitions counter. Managing a laugh at Noctis' joke, he crossed the room and booted up the requisitions terminal, looking through the omni-tool upgrades and scratching a hand through his hair. "Didn't know you were down here," he pointed out calmly.

Noctis laughed and nodded. "Kinda figured that. I doubt you'd've referred to me in the third person if you did. So, what'll make me think you're going insane?" He'd abandoned his gun cleaning for now, left the dismantled sub-machine gun on the table, and crossed the room to stand next to Prompto at the requisitions terminal. "Or... you know. More insane," he added with a teasing grin.

Turning his head to see that Noctis was leaning forward against the table casually, his hands on the cool metal surface and one of his legs crossed behind the other, Prompto quirked a nervous smile. "Nothing. Luna keeps suggesting that I uh... you know. Ease up on the biotics more. You've been working with me on them, though. So, I don't want you to think I'm losing my mind by giving up what you taught me," he answered. It wasn't the best answer. It wasn't even really a _good_ answer. But it was the best he could do on the fly.

It seemed good enough for Noctis, too, though. Because he chuckled a soft laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "You know Luna, though," he mused.

Prompto nodded at that. "Always looking out for us," he answered. "I'm sure the last thing she wants is for me to pass out in the middle of a fight or something. But that's not gonna happen. I mean, I know my limits. And I have tech and stuff to fall back on, right?" He smiled a genuine smile, relieved in no small amount that his answer seemed to have been satisfactory for Noctis.

"Yeah, exactly," Noctis agreed. "You can handle a lot more than you used to."

Noctis walked around the table then, standing next to Prompto with a little smirk. He eyed the requisitions terminal and pointed at the cool-down upgrade. "Dad emailed me about these, by the way. They're pretty good. I was gonna grab one of 'em for each of us when I finished with cleaning my gun." He pointed over his shoulder at the munitions table.

Nodding his head, Prompto picked up one of each instead, and called his omni-tool out to download the upgrade. He motioned for Noctis to do the same. "Anything else new in there?" he asked.

With a shrug of his lip, Noctis shook his head no. "Not really. I went looking earlier but I think everything we picked up on the Citadel is better." He raised his omni-tool to get the download from the terminal, then turned to glance at Prompto. "Dad sent me the vid we never finished watching at your place, by the way."

"You mean the one _you_ never finished watching," Prompto teased his friend with a grin.

Noctis gently shoved Prompto with his shoulder, and Prompto stumbled a little more than was _probably_ necessary. Played it up a bit. Anything in the world to make Noctis smile. "Whatever," he teased back, with a smile growing on his face. "Was wondering if you wanted to watch it in the lounge with me."

Prompto made a face again. "Watch it _again_ you mean," he pointed out, shouldering Noctis back.

"Yeah," he answered nonchalantly. "Watch it again. What do you say?"

Laughing, Prompto shrugged. "Sure. After we finish up here?" He motioned over toward the munitions table and shrugged his head to the side. "Gotta clean Quicksilver, too. You reminded me."

The laugh Noctis gave then, Prompto was embarrassed to say, made his heart stutter just slightly. It was real and honest, but also reserved in the way Noctis always was when he laughed like that. Laugh lines appeared in the corners of his eyes, though, and little laughter dimples on either side of his mouth. Against Prompto's will, his own lips quirked up into a little smirk. His cheeks heated up, and he turned to glance down at the ground as he walked toward his locker to grab his gun. The distraction provided him with enough time to will the blush from his cheeks, and as he opened his locker, Noctis' voice echoed through the room.

"Still can't believe you named your gun," Noctis teased him.

Prompto shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Guns work better when you name 'em. It's just science, Noct," he pointed out, crossing the room and hoping with all of his heart that the blush had completely faded away by then. Rather than wait to find out, he immediately set to work dismantling his gun to clean it.

He could, however, practically hear the smile in Noctis' voice when he said, "must've missed that science class. Was that one of the times I fell asleep?"

"Which time?" Prompto replied, without missing a beat. Noctis' responding laughter hit his ears, and he cleared his throat to drown it out, grabbing one of the small brushes to clean out the barrel of his pistol. It wasn't the first time things like this had happened. Every once in awhile, Prompto found himself noticing all of the simple things that Noctis did like this. Maybe it was just because of his conversation with Luna moments ago that it was affecting him so much.

Behind them, the elevator door opened once more to reveal Gladio, who strode out into the cargo bay and toward the small corner he and Ignis used as their sleeping quarters. A singular mattress behind a stack of boxes, alongside several pieces of exercise equipment and a whole giant chest full of Ignis' own personal cooking paraphernalia decorated the area. Prompto sometimes wondered how the pair could sleep in the cargo bay. But he supposed that it was better than a sleeper pod, or the busy crew quarters. They had their own space. Prompto had considered, a couple of times, making his own resting place in the observation deck or the lounge. But he'd never actually done it.

Gladio's voice rang out through the area as he turned the corner to go to his workout area. "Better be careful, you two," he teased. "Keep cleaning your guns side by side like that and people will talk."

Neither Noctis, nor Prompto, had any sort of verbal response to that. However, all noises of ticking and brushing that went along with cleaning guns _completely_ stopped for several seconds. For Prompto's part, it was because he was staring at the area Gladio had retreated to with wide eyes and strawberry red cheeks. He wasn't sure why Noctis was frozen, but it probably had to do with some sort of incredulous feeling going along with the joke. The next sound that filled the room was the repetitive smacking sound of Gladio hitting his punching bag.

It still wasn't enough to make Prompto speak up yet, though.

"Gladio's such a douche," Noctis commented, his voice an under-the-breath mutter.

Prompto laughed a soft response as he brushed a little bit of gunk from the corner of his gun's barrel. "Right?" he smirked in response.

The brushing and clicking sounds filled the room again, accompanied by whatever sounds went along with Gladio's workout, and Prompto found his mind wandering just slightly. It seemed like today, everything was pointing him in the direction of acknowledging this crush that he tried so adamantly to ignore most of the time. He'd be glad for a ground mission to distract him once they got to Chaos.


	4. Chaos (I)

The first room in the mining facility was surprisingly empty. Noctis was highly suspicious, and also endlessly thankful for Ignis' glasses. Having the ability to pick up heat and tech signatures was endlessly useful. As Ignis took a look around the room, his finger to a small red heat sensor on the frame of his glasses, Noctis and Gladio stood on either side of the door to the next room. The small green console was in Noctis' reach, waiting for Ignis' okay to open. But for now, they stood with their backs against the wall, eyeing Ignis while he glanced around the room.

"No heat signatures left," Ignis pointed out in a battle whisper. "No organic life forms. Nothing cloaked. Nothing. We're clear."

Gladio nodded. "Camera in the corner, though. They know we're comin'."

Ignis hummed an agreement to that, then turned his head toward the door. "I'm picking up five biometric signatures on the other side of the wall. They're moving about the facility. Patrolling, it seems." He didn't confirm Gladio's analysis, but he didn't need to. Moving biometric signatures in a place with cameras likely meant that they were expected. How expected, though, would determine their method of procedure.

For a beat, everything was quiet, until Noctis spoke up. "When we open the doors, you guys go to cover," he strategized. "I'll charge into one of 'em and catch their attention, raise up my barrier and be ready for anyone else. If I draw anyone out, Specs, you freeze 'em in place or something, and then you take 'em out, Big Guy."

Noctis wasn't usually the take-charge type. The smallest part of him, though, when teamed up with Gladio and Ignis like he was, felt like maybe he had something to prove. He didn't, really. It wasn't like Ignis or Gladio doubted his skills. They knew him to be a perfectly capable soldier. But they were incredible, especially as a team. It wasn't even as simple as 'Ignis had the brains, Gladio had the brawn.' They were each a mixture of brains and brawn. Each more one than the other, and because of that, they complimented each other perfectly. Noctis wasn't sure where he rated on that scale, but he knew for sure that he _definitely_ wasn't as high on the scale as they were.

Still, his word seemed enough for them to trust, if the way that each of them nodded at his suggestion was any indication. With a sharp breath inward, Noctis pulled his machine gun from his hip and hit the button to open the door. The metallic whirring noise filled the silence, and if by some chance, anyone in the facility hadn't been aware of their presence, that was out the window now.

Noctis hurried down the small hallway, watching Ignis and Gladio spread to either side of the stacks of crates that flanked the door. While Ignis moved to the far side of the left stack of crates, Noctis rushed to the near side and pressed his back against it. Waiting was dangerous. It gave the enemy more time to get ready to flank them. So, Ignis and Gladio moved from the crates to find cover behind a support pillar and a second pile of crates respectively. Noctis waited until they were in cover, before peering out from behind _his_ cover and spotting one of the mercenaries looking suspiciously around the room.

"Can't find 'em, Meuller!" the man shouted.

Another voice, from further back in the room—Ignis' side—shouted, "look harder! I saw what I saw and I heard the door! Boss says to blast 'em, take 'em out, and then go help out at the other facility."

Take them out. Noctis wanted to chuckle at that, but he didn't. Instead, he focused his energy, charging his biotics up until his body buzzed with that familiar tingling feeling. He charged forward, phasing through a small partition in front of him, and impacting the first patrolling mercenary with a loud smack of biotic impact. His barriers strengthened when he impacted, but just to fortify them a little bit more, he activated his backup barrier and charged up a throw field to put some distance between himself and the mercenary so that he could charge again.

The merc flew back several feet, impacting with the second merc. Before Noctis even had a chance to react, he heard the popping biotic sound of a stasis field being thrown out. All of a sudden, both mercs were frozen in Ignis' bubble, right where Noctis' throw had landed them. Shortly following was the low, echoing 'thoom' of a concussive round being shot. It impacted with a loud thud, throwing the two mercs apart, but still keeping them frozen. After a few fired rounds from Gladio, both mercs were dead.

Noctis hurried himself to cover again, listening for any more footsteps, but when nothing came, Ignis called out, "I believe we're clear," over the earpiece.

"There's more, but they're in the other room," Gladio parroted, popping out from behind cover and glancing around the room.

Ignis came out from behind cover, walking over to the first merc corpse and crouching over it. "It's a bit strange," he commented. "I noted while we were fighting them. They don't move like run-of-the-mill mercenaries. We've fought mercenaries before. Also, their voices sounded almost like they were partially synthesized. And if you look at their faces..." He gestured down at the merc on the ground with his hand.

Taking a couple of steps toward Ignis and craning his neck to get a better look, he blinked. The eyes looked... very synthetic, actually. They were shaped like normal eyes, but the irises looked almost like they were a motherboard. The pupils shined with the same wiring-style lines as the irises did, and Noctis found himself incredibly unsettled. "Synthetic eyes?" Noctis asked, blinking a couple of times.

"Synthetic eyes, synthetic voices... let's just hope that it's just these two. Let's hope we're not dealin' with a whole _group_ of half-synthetic soldiers here, 'cause that's got the potential to be bad." Gladio tapped the other merc corpse with the butt of his gun, and blinked a couple of times. "Noct. Iggy. Check this out."

When Noctis turned around, he almost wished he hadn't. A pair of large wires protruded from the merc's hip and trailed down to his knee. Electricity still surged through them, like they'd been active up until the group had taken the man out. "What the hell?" Noctis mouthed. "We gotta tell Cor about this. Specs, get a couple shots? So we can discuss it back on the ship..." he suggested.

Ignis nodded, calling up his omni-tool and taking a couple of quick snapshots.

Static hissed from the earpiece on the first dead merc's head. "...dealt—... truders? Meuller! … in Meu---r!"

Noctis glanced at the door in the back of the main room, leading to the rest of the facility. He motioned for Gladio and Ignis to follow him toward it, motioning with a hand for Ignis to scan what was behind the walls. He'd said something about five biometric signatures before, so it made perfect sense that there were more people in the facility. Noctis had just expected to deal with them all at once.

Touching his hand to the frame of his glasses again, he stared at the wall, scanning the area behind it with intense focus. He holstered his pistol on his hip, and held three fingers up. 'Three people left.' One finger went down, then he pointed at the right side. 'Two on the right,' Noctis took that to mean. A second finger went down, and then he pointed straight back and to the left. 'One around the corner.' Noctis nodded once.

"The hallway is clear," Ignis mouthed, no sound coming out at all. But Noctis read his lips loud and clear.

Noctis nodded. "On my six," he whispered to them. Why he was taking the lead on this mission was about as clear to him as why Ignis and Gladio were _letting_ him take the lead on this mission, especially since they were well-equipped to lead on their own. But they were, and he was. So, he tapped the opening mechanism and the door slid open.

The hallway was quiet. Crates lined it, and once Gladio and Ignis spread out slightly behind Noctis, Gladio checked around the nearest crates to ensure that nothing was hiding behind them. Noctis pressed his back against the wall nearest the door with the two mercenaries behind it, and made sure that Ignis and Gladio were ready. When everyone was in position, he tapped the button and the door whirred open.

Immediately, they came under fire. Flame rounds from two assault rifles shot out the doorway, and Noctis had to duck back behind cover as soon as he'd come out. He activated his barrier, then watched as his two teammates activated their defensive abilities as well. Ignis had his barrier up, and Gladio activated his time-dilating adrenaline rush, before surging ahead of the others and knocking his gun from the nearest merc's hand. He struck the woman with an elbow to the head, and then ducked behind cover as his time dilation wore off. Noctis watched as Ignis trapped the second gunner in a stasis field, then Noctis surged forward with a biotic charge.

The impacting biotic explosion shook the room around them, knocking a couple of chairs down, and flipping a table over. Admittedly, Noctis had always loved it when that happened, but right now he couldn't focus on that, because the merc that Gladio had knocked down was getting back up. She had no weapons, but she charged up an incinerate blast and fired it at Noctis. Hissing and patting the heat out of his armor, Noctis dove behind cover.

"You Alliance bastards!" the merc shouted, firing an overload blast toward Noctis. "Just come into someone's base and fire the place up! So what if we found that cargo? The cruiser was out in the Starscourge System in the middle of nowhere! Who was it gonna benefit there?"

Noctis peered around the corner at her, noting that she was covered with those same wires as the mercs out in the main hall. Except she had more. Two hooked each of her arms to her rib cage, and one jutted from each of her hips to connect to her knees. Her eyes were far more synthetic than even the last soldiers in the main hall. Whatever cybernetic enhancements these people had, this woman was on the extreme end of the spectrum. She seemed to have spotted Noctis looking her over, and she fired another incinerate blast his way. But this time, from the doorway, Ignis counteracted with a neural shock field that completely froze her in place for a moment.

Noctis, perhaps morbidly curious about what would happen, lined up and fired a shot at one of the wires connecting her hip to her knee. A blood-curdling scream echoed out through the room, and electric sparks shot from the wire like a piece of busted electronics. Sparks... and blood. Like the wire was a vein. She collapsed under her own weight once the neural shock wore off, but crawled back to her hands and knees.

From the ground, she seethed. "I hope Verstael _kills_ you! Every last one of you good-for-nothing Alliance sons of bitches! You'll all burn!" she screamed, firing another incinerate blast toward Ignis, but in her agony, missing by a mile.

This time, Gladio fired a shot from cover, hitting her in the shoulder. A second shot hit her in the head, and she was on the ground in a heap. Ignis was the first to step out of cover, followed by Gladio and finally Noctis. The three converged on the two corpses, but none of them spoke at first. What was to be said? This woman had those same wires coming out of her... but now, knowing what they did...

"Blood and sparks," Gladio was the first one to finally speak. "You guys saw that, right? I'm not just going nuts?"

Ignis shook his head no as he motioned down toward the ground and took another couple of snapshots of her corpse. "No. No, it was very much real. There's blood here on the ground to prove it." He snapped a photo of the blood, then of the severed wire, which was still sparking bright white electric pulses.

All Noctis could do was stare at the wounded piece of wire, as it sputtered out blood and surged electricity like some kind of organic-synthetic fusion. He knew that humans could have synthetic organs put in them—Prompto came to mind, even if he was one of the less-fortunate examples of such fusion—but these people... they seemed to have no adverse physical effects like Prompto did. Maybe a little bit (or a lot, if this woman was the standard) of insanity, but physically, she'd seemed fine. He still stared, blinking dumbly, as Ignis stood back up and looked around the room.

"This looks like a research facility," Ignis suggested. "You don't suppose there's any information on these... people, do you?" He seemed hesitant to call them people, and Noctis honestly understood why.

Gladio shrugged his shoulders. "You can have a look if you want, while Noct and I check the lockers and everything else. Think you can hack 'em?" he asked.

Nodding, Ignis wandered over to one of the holographic consoles, taking a seat in front of it and giving the frame of his glasses a light tap. While he searched the files, Noctis still stared down at the woman on the floor. She'd seemed so adamant about how terrible the Alliance was. Noctis crouched down and checked her body over, for any sort of identification, but there was none.

"She mentioned someone named Verstael, right?" Ignis questioned aloud. Before Gladio or Noctis could confirm, he continued. "Verstael Besithia. He's the leader of this mercenary band, and also a researcher for a sleeper cell organization known as Cerberus."

Gladio blinked a couple of times. "Cerberus. They've been inactive for about ten years, haven't they?" He shot an electronic lock on a locker and filed through it when it opened. "Since Noct's dad and my dad were on a squad together and took 'em down." Gathering some money from the top shelf of the locker, and some grenades from the bottom, he turned and walked toward Ignis.

With a hum of acknowledgment, Noctis stood up straight. "Yeah. Although dad said they never managed to find the leader. They took out one of his underlings, but the leader escaped to the Starscourge System and they lost track of him. But they assumed he was dead, so..." He trailed off.

An unfamiliar laugh filled the room then. Noctis turned toward the sound, to see an elderly man with oddly familiar bright blue eyes standing in the doorway. Actually, there was a lot about his face that struck Noctis as an odd sort of familiar. A familiar jawline, a familiar smirk... and those eyes. Those eyes looked like only one set of eyes that Noctis had ever seen in his life. _Prompto's..._ Noctis thought. The only thing missing in them was the light. The bright spark that always drew Noctis to him. This man, whoever he was, didn't have that flicker in his eyes. Not even close.

Immediately, Gladio went into defensive mode and stood on the opposite side of Ignis, blocking him from this stranger's view. "The hell are you?" he grumbled.

The man shrugged his lip. "You know, it's endlessly amusing how you Alliance fools fumble around in the dark, not knowing what's going on right under your nose," he spoke in a snide voice. "Assumed he was dead. As if the leader of an organization like Cerberus could be brought down by a group of simple peons."

Once again, Gladio's voice rumbled through the room. He raised his gun to the old man, jerking it forward as he shouted, "answer the _question_!"

"Verstael Besithia..." Ignis answered, tapping his glasses again and standing up. "The man in charge of this group."

Chuckling a casual laugh, Besithia nodded his head in acknowledgment to Ignis' claim. "You must be a gifted hacker, Lieutenant Commander Scientia, to clear through our encryptions." His tone was actually more mocking than it was praising.

Ignis blinked. "How did you know my name? And my rank?" he asked.

Gladio—in a stark contrast to the 'mission first' attitude he normally had—stepped in front of Ignis even further, presenting Besithia with a non-verbal threat. Ignis wasn't weak, wasn't incapable by a long shot. But that never stopped Gladio from being determined to keep him from harm. The reason was obvious.

Humming a note of mocking thought, Besithia stepped into the room. "I have ways. But that's not really what you should be concerning yourself with right now." He stepped up to a console and brought his omni-tool up. A few keys typed in, and a camera view appeared on the holographic interface.

Three Alliance soldiers—Noctis didn't even need to look twice to recognize who they were; Cor, Nyx, and Prompto—fought against a seemingly endless army of enhanced mercenaries like the ones that Gladio, Ignis, and Noctis had just taken out. They were cornered in a room, with the only doorway to escape standing behind the army that charged toward them. Noctis reached for his gun, feeling his hand tightening around it as he raised it up, pointing it directly at Besithia's face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Besithia taunted.

Noctis seethed. "Why not?!" he shouted.

Besithia smiled a snakelike smile. "Because attached to my life is a biometric code to that facility. Should I be killed, every single tank in that facility will open and your dear friends will easily be overrun. So, here is an alternate proposal. The weaponry you're looking for is in the third room in this facility. Down the hall and to the left. You may have it back. And I will be leaving this place with my life intact, so you can go and rescue your _poor_ compatriots from this unfortunate situation they found themselves in."

It hadn't occurred to Noctis in that moment, the fact that they hadn't had any communication with Cor's team since they'd touched down. Now that it had, though, it was startling. Troubling. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one who felt that way, because Gladio's grip on his assault rifle shook a little bit. Hesitantly, he lowered it, and Noctis followed suit. Maybe Alliance brass would frown upon them for not taking this guy out, but the rest of their team was in hot water, and Noctis knew as well as he knew himself, that Gladio didn't want to feel responsible for anything happening to them. Besides that, Besithia had told them where the weapons were, and that was the whole reason they'd come to this planet in the first place.

"Glad we could come to an agreement," chided Besithia.

The last thing Noctis saw on the screen when Besithia lowered his omni-tool, was Prompto throwing out a large warp field at a member of the attacking mercenary army. As Besithia walked toward the facility's exit, Noctis surged past him to get to their goal and get the _hell_ out of here. The rest of the team needed their help.

As he ran, he brought his hand to his ear and pressed the communication button on his helmet. "Caelum to Leonis. Status report!" A few seconds passed of radio silence, and he tried again. Maybe Cor was just fighting. "Caelum to Ulric! Argentum! Leonis! _Anyone_! Status report!"

The response of hissing radio silence was louder than anything Noctis had ever heard in his life.


	5. Chaos (II)

Prompto should have known that the mission was going to be a difficult one by the way that the shuttle's radar tech jammed itself before they even landed. Nyx spent almost the whole trip from the ship to land trying to clear the jam, trying to hack and work around whatever was blocking it, but by the time Cor landed the shuttle, he'd made absolutely no headway. It was just jammed. It was okay. They didn't really _need_ the radar to get into the facility, but it still would have been helpful. Nyx and Cor, if they were stressed at all about the situation, didn't show it. Instead, they just encouraged Prompto, assured him that it would be fine, and opened the shuttle door when it landed.

And _holy hell_ when it landed. Prompto had felt heat before. He'd been on first planets from suns or planets that didn't see a lot of shade. But this heat... this heat was a heat that cut straight through his armor's temperature control and suffocated him. Even the slightest suit puncture in an atmosphere like this would burn someone to a crisp from the inside out. Prompto was tempted to sprint to get into the facility, but instead, he followed quietly along behind Cor and Nyx, trying to keep himself from focusing on the heat too much.

Trying to. Not succeeding. Not even a little bit.

Nyx made quick work of hacking the lock to the front door of the facility, and the three of them hurried into the safety airlock, only to be greeted by a trio of turrets pointing at their faces. The turrets took aim, but Prompto called his omni-tool up, sending out a quick hacking blast that pulled their attention from the team to each other instead. Three quick machine gun blasts went off, and two of the turrets exploded. Nyx dispatched the last one with a quick incinerate blast. It popped with an electrical blast, and Cor nodded his approval to both of them, before turning his head to look down the hallway.

"Biometrics?" he commanded of Nyx.

Nyx wasn't shaken by his tone, but then no one on the crew ever was. Cor had to be serious. It fell upon his shoulders to make sure that everyone got out of missions alive, so he couldn't really take the time for pleasantries. Using his visor to do a quick scan of the area, he answered, "well that's not good."

Cor turned to look at Nyx, arching an eyebrow in question, before asking, "Not exactly what I wanted to hear. What's the issue, Ulric?" he asked.

"Turns out our shuttle's systems aren't the only ones jammed. My bioscanner's down. Getting a whole lot of static." Nyx tried one more time, then pushed another button. "Ulric to Caelum," he called. "Scientia? Amicitia? Alpha to Bravo. Can you hear me?" After a pause, he called out, "Alpha to Regalia? Ulric to Regalia!"

No response came.

Humming, Cor stopped his trek down the hall, holding his arm out for Prompto and Cor to stop, too. "With no contact to Bravo or to the Regalia, we're going to have to take this carefully. We have no idea of anything but the layout of this place, so you're going to need to plan for the unexpected. Be on your guard constantly, and always secure corners before you turn them." Now, he was speaking more to Prompto than to Nyx.

"Yes, sir," Prompto nodded his head. He pulled his gun from his waist and held it down toward the floor, scanning the front room carefully as he walked through it.

It looked like nothing but an average front hall. A row of lockers lined a far wall and there were several benches lining the nearer walls. A waiting room, maybe? There were consoles on the table, and Prompto had to admit to a little bit of curiosity. Some of them looked like normal holographic computer interfaces. Some of them looked like high-tech, likely highly-encrypted, security files. Things that they'd probably need Ignis' glasses to hack. But one caught his attention. The interface was old-fashioned, likely from back before holographic interfaces became the standard. These were way, way easier to hack than those. Prompto could do it in his sleep.

"Looks like one of these is a security camera," he pointed out. "Want me to hack it?"

Cor, who had moved to the door, turned to look at Prompto and the console that he was looking at. He nodded. "Do it," he ordered, before pressing his ear to the door and trying to hear through the metal.

Prompto wasn't an expert hacker or anything. Most of his hacking abilities were granted by his implants and the experiments conducted on him when he was a kid. But with those implants, plus the high-tech capabilities of his enhanced omni-tool, hacking an old system like this was child's play. He altered his hacking pulse a little, changing the friend-or-foe detection to a decryption-cracking pulse, then swiped it over the system. Once he activated the system, the computer seemed like it wanted to protest a bit, but instead, four of the six screens came on one by one, showing four of the five rooms. A fifth screen flashed on for a moment, showing what looked like a main hall. In the brief moment that it was on, Prompto spotted several weird looking pods. But before he could get a good look, just as quickly as the screen flashed on, it flickered again and faded into blackness. The sixth screen, on the bottom left, never even activated.

"All of these look like research rooms," Prompto told the others. "One of 'em flashed on, but then turned off right away. But what I saw looked like pods? Not sure what was in 'em, though."

Nyx crossed the room to look over Prompto's shoulder. He leaned over the keyboard in front of the consoles, typing a few quick words and trying to activate the fifth and sixth screens. But when nothing happened, he shrugged one shoulder and looked at the four screens that _were_ on. "Don't see any people," he pointed out. "At least not in the rooms the cameras are showing. Don't see the weapons either, but I do see a couple lockers and safes in a couple of the rooms that could have what we're looking for."

"No people doesn't mean anything," Cor pointed out, taking a couple of steps back and looking around the room. "We're not going to charge in. That'd be suicide." He stopped his scan in the corner of the room and turned to look at Nyx and Prompto. "Ventilation shafts. I'm sure they know we're here, but if we take to the vents, we might still be able to at least partially take them by surprise. Ulric. Boost me up. I'll take point, you take rear."

The order escaped, and Nyx stepped forward, forming his hands into a web to boost Cor up. Prompto watched from a couple of steps back as Cor pried the grate covering the ventilation shaft off. He jogged a couple of steps forward to collect it from Cor's hands and lean it against the wall. When Cor was securely up in the vent, Nyx motioned to Prompto and effortlessly boosted him up and into the shaft. Prompto turned around, reaching his arm down to help Nyx up. When the other man jumped and grabbed hold of his forearm, he struggled for a second at the sudden weight, but with some carefully concealed difficulty, managed to pull Nyx up and into the closed-in space.

It was interesting. While the ventilation shaft was small, there was still room for Prompto to easily crawl through the small space. Cor was a little more cramped, as was Nyx, but they could still move with relative ease.

He turned around to see Cor already partway down the hall, peering through another small grate with intensely examining eyes. Prompto crawled through the small space until he reached the grate, pressing himself against the wall so that Nyx could get a look, too. Prompto's eyes scanned the area beneath him and blinked in amazement. The pods—more than thirty of them, easily—looked like they had had _humans_ in them.

Or were they human? The grate obstructed his view a bit, but he was at least _somewhat_ sure that he could see large, metal wires protruding out from several spots on their bodies. Connecting arms to ribs or legs to hips. One, it looked like, even had a wire connecting his head to his spine. Mouth agape, but still silent, Prompto looked at Cor for guidance.

Though it looked like Cor was struggling with the sight as well, he turned and continued down the ventilation shaft. Prompto followed his lead, taking painstaking care as he maneuvered his body over the grate and followed behind his commanding officer. Cor stopped and pointed to the right with his index and middle finger, beckoning for Prompto and Nyx to follow. A second grate showed an empty hallway, and Prompto was beginning to wonder if there really _was_ no one in the facility. He maneuvered over this grate, too, then followed Cor to the next one, which rested right at a dead end in the shaft.

Cor looked down to the ground carefully. "Clear," he murmured, then pried the grate from the ventilation shaft and kept it in his hands as he dropped down from the vent.

Prompto followed his lead, then moved out of the way so Nyx could drop down. The room was one of the ones from the security camera, obviously, and Prompto glanced around nervously. He called up his combat drone, but set it on camera mode. Cor turned and nodded an approving nod, before setting to checking the room.

The first thing Nyx did was to overload the camera in the corner of the room. Then, he moved to the safe in the back corner of the room and started hacking it open. While he did that, Prompto walked toward a locker and called his omni-tool up, hacking it open with ease. It opened to reveal several medical instruments. One looked like a thermometer, a blood pressure checker, needles and syringes... but some of the instruments looked odd. Copper wire, pliers, and electrical clamps; electrical tape and a blowtorch... Prompto called his drone over, and also beckoned to Cor when he knew that the man was looking.

"It looks like a medical locker, but..." he murmured.

Cor nodded once. "You saw those pods out there. Some of those people looked like they had wires hooking their bodies together," he explained, his tone not managing to mask his horror.

From the corner, Nyx interjected, "org-synth fusion? I guess it's been happening for a long time," with an obviously less-than-impressed tone to his voice. "Implants and whatever else." He glanced apologetically at Prompto, then back to the computer screen. "But to see it abused like this..."

Prompto suddenly felt like maybe his situation wasn't so bad, as he had his drone snap a picture of the inside of the locker. He closed the locker and then turned to look at Nyx, who had moved on from the empty safe to download files from a computer onto his omni-tool. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up again. "Cerberus," Nyx simply stated, looking at Cor and biting his lip.

That made Cor's eyes widen, an uncharacteristic moment of tension crossing his face. "Cerberus..." he repeated.

It had been a long, _long_ time since Prompto had heard the name Cerberus. Memories surfaced, of Garuda; of the peaceful colony going about their business when dozens of armored shuttles landed on the ground all throughout the colony. Of ten-year-old Prompto's mother telling him to run and hide. Of her reaching for a gun that she barely knew how to fire. Of a man in armor with a yellow logo on it grabbing his mother and dragging her away. Of being dragged out of hiding and knocked unconscious by a strike to the back of the head when he struggled. Of waking up in a dark facility, hooked up to wires and neural sensors, not knowing what was happening to him.

Five years, he spent there. Five years of his body rejecting almost all Cerberus tests and implants. Five years of being called defective and broken, of dangling on the precipice of the kill list... until Noctis' dad finally came in and saved him. Prompto couldn't stop himself from wrapping an arm around his chest in a self-hug, but he blinked any further emotion away and pushed it back. Later. He'd deal with it later. Maybe.

"Argentum, let's go."

While he'd been lost in his memories, it seemed like Cor and Nyx had finished securing the room. He shook himself hard and nodded, calling his drone back and following Nyx and Cor to the next room. It was noteworthy that Cor had opted to take the empty hallway instead of the vents now. The formation was as it usually was; Nyx in the back, Cor in the front, Prompto in the center, but each of the next two rooms proved the battle formation to be unnecessary. It was more of the same. More disturbing medical equipment, plus some troubling documents; Nyx found one that chronicled the 'neural map of Biotech Troopers.' Prompto didn't understand many of the details of that one, but it made him wonder in the far corner of his mind if the terms on the page were used on him so many years ago.

It was when they prepared to breach the final door in the facility that Prompto felt it. An electric pulse in the air that rattled every single one of his synthetic bones and made him reach out to grip a beam protruding from the wall with a shaky hand to stay on his feet. It wasn't painful, just jarring. And seconds later, it went away.

"Argentum?" Cor called out.

Nyx rushed from his position to Prompto's side. "Prompto, you okay?" he asked, a hand on Prompto's shoulder.

Nodding, Prompto swallowed thickly. "Y-yeah. There was... there was this weird electric pulse in the air and I-" he nodded once again- "I'm okay."

"I felt it, too," Nyx agreed. "Vibrated my implants a bit."

Cor was silent, considering what they'd said, and in the silence, Prompto heard a low, electric whirring from the front hall of the facility. The floor vibrated, too, and when Prompto turned to look back at Cor, he was stepping to where the hallway turned and peering around the corner. He turned back, and sprinted down the hallway again. "Get in. Get in the room and bunker down. The pods."

No sooner had the words escaped, than a chorus of five thuds echoed out in the main hall. Some of the half-humans were loose now.

Prompto blinked twice and hit the button to open the door, filing in when Cor waved him in. Cor closed the door behind them, and as it slid closed, Prompto spotted one of the half-human soldiers sprinting down the hallway. Nyx beckoned Prompto, telling him to help flip a table up to use as a defensible position. Cor, too, was pushing a metal bookshelf from the wall. Prompto had his drone overload the door's circuits to buy them some time. Unfortunately, it didn't matter much. On the other side of the door, a gunshot rang out and jumped Prompto where he stood. The door whirred open, and through a small crack in their man-made barricade, Prompto spotted five synthetic soldiers standing in the door, each carrying massive guns with that same yellow logo on them. The memory made Prompto flinch.

Admittedly, Prompto wasn't quite sure how to proceed. But Cor made the first move. He popped out of cover in the center, shooting a concussive round at the first trooper. It barely recoiled. Prompto popped out of cover, too, for a moment, charging up a shockwave and firing it into the center of the group. Five purple biotic blasts shot out in a line, the last of which hit all five of the troopers and sent them to their backs on the floor. Nyx responded with a hacking blast that locked up the enemies' guns, and Prompto took the cue while they were all distracted and fired out a singularity into the center of the fallen soldiers. When they picked themselves up, they were dragged into the biotic singularity field and floated up into the air like slowly-tossed ragdolls.

Cor changed to his shotgun, twisting the ammo type to power his bullets with biotically charged energy, and fired at the most central trooper in Prompto's singularity. The result was a large explosion—the result when two biotic powers hit one another—that blasted all of the troopers to the ground. Most of them stayed down, but one of them got back up and pulled a shotgun off its back. With one hand, Prompto fired a hack field to disable its shotgun, and with the other, he shot out a biotic blast that lifted the trooper into the air and then slammed it into the ground with deadly force. This time, it didn't get up.

It looked like Cor was going to congratulate him, but before the words could even escape, another electric pulse surged through the air. This one was stronger than the last, and Prompto felt his synthetic joints rattle. Before Prompto knew it and against his will, he was laying on the ground. Once again, it wasn't painful. Just impossible to ignore. Nyx, too, had a hand to his head.

"Are you okay?" Cor asked, his confident and cool demeanor crumbling to the ground as he looked at his partners.

Nodding, Nyx blinked hard and turned his eyes to the sniper hole in the barricade. "Fine," he answered.

Prompto nodded and pulled himself from the floor slowly. "I-I'm okay." His voice was slightly less sure than Nyx's was, and he noticed it too, but he tried not to let his confidence shake too much. Especially since, down the corridor, came seven more soldiers.

Nyx opened up combat this round. He sniped the first one, a clean shot right through its head, but it didn't fall. It recoiled a bit, stumbling back into the soldier behind it, but responded by firing an incinerate blast toward their barricade. Prompto raised his barrier and popped out of cover, charging up a warp blast to fire at him. A couple of shots hit him, but the barrier deflected them. The warp impacted the first soldier, making him stumble, and Prompto used the chance to hack the gun he had out, ensuring that he couldn't shoot at them anymore. He sent his drone back out, ordering it to send out a chain overload. The overload arched from one trooper to the next, making them all convulse in place for a moment, and Prompto watched as Cor fired on them.

Their shields and barriers were down, so Prompto shot out another singularity, charged up to full strength. Except that was when the first sign of headache started to show itself. It was just a twinge. A tiny, dull pain in the back of his head, that he ignored at first. It was nothing. He'd had worse headaches from hangovers. It was just from too much charging. He needed more conditioning practice before he could charge every single hit like this.

However, when the next pulse came before the current group of were even defeated, Prompto realized that they might be in trouble. After pulling himself up from the floor, he took his pistol out and fired, trying desperately to finish the soldiers off without using his biotics, but when nothing he did would bring them down, he realized that he needed to hit with more force. Another singularity, followed by a warp, and the biotic blast sent the soldiers to the ground, where Nyx and Cor dispatched them just before the new group arrived.

This time, the headache twinge was stronger.

He slammed his eyes shut, willing it away, before opening them again and popping his barrier up again. Another charged singularity blast, which made his vision swim a little bit—and didn't even lift the troopers this time—and he started panicking a little. He threw out a charged warp to slow their strides a little bit, and felt dizziness overtake him. But he wouldn't fall. He _couldn't_ fall. He couldn't leave Cor and Nyx a man down like that. And he couldn't just be dead weight, either. He wasn't dead weight. He _wasn't_ broken. He _wasn't_ defective. He had to fight. 

Except, his body wouldn't listen. Before he even finished charging up the biotic slam he was preparing, the dizziness won.

He was vaguely aware of Cor and Nyx calling out to him, telling him to take it easy. Vaguely. But a blinding, searing pain shot through his head and down his spine. Before he knew it, he'd fallen down onto the ground, and consciousness had ebbed away...


	6. Mortal

By the time the shuttle touched down at the second facility, Noctis was almost positive that things had gone poorly. Iris had insisted that the second shuttle had just fallen off the map shortly after it took off, but about halfway through the transmission, it cut off and all Noctis could hear was static. At the very same moment, the shuttle's scanners went on the fritz. Ignis immediately set to work trying to right the ship, handing the flight controls over to Gladio. However, no matter what he did, he made no progress. The comms still hissed with static and there was absolutely nothing on the combat sensor.

Orders should have dictated that they take the cargo back to the ship first, since that was their whole mission; their whole reason for being there, but one look between Ignis and Gladio told him that both of them felt similarly to how he felt. It was a good thing, too, because Noctis probably would have turned the shuttle around and gone to rescue the others alone afterward, if they hadn't agreed.

They touched down, and Noctis ignored the sweltering heat that he could feel all the way through his armor. He ran out in front of Gladio and Ignis, despite their pleas for him to slow down, and only stopped when he got to the front door of the facility. It was hard to stop himself, honestly. Twice, he reached for the mechanism to open the door, but both times, he thought of what his father would say. Going into a facility with so many enemies was suicide, and he wouldn't be able to save _anyone_. Still, his hand twitched a bit as he held it close to the mechanism. No matter how fast Gladio and Ignis were moving, it wasn't fast enough.

Gladio got to the door first, with Ignis hot on his heels, and Noctis didn't even wait to formulate a strategy before hitting the button and opening the door.

Busted and zapping turret pieces littered the floor, and Noctis stepped over them, ignoring logic and simply hurrying out into the front hall. This part of the facility didn't look as threatening as the rest, but in the distance, Noctis could barely hear the sounds of combat. Biotic blasts, tech squealing, gunfire...

He hurried to the door to the main hall of the facility and moved his hand to push the button and open it, but before he could press it, Gladio grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him away. "Hey! Cool it, Noct!" he commanded, shoving Noctis backward and into a nearby wall and pinning him there by the right shoulder. "You wanna think about what you're doing before you get us all killed?"

Noctis' eyes narrowed, and he shook off Gladio's hand. "Prompto's-"

"I _know_ ," Gladio snapped. "So's Cor and Nyx, remember?"

The implication behind the words made Noctis' eyes narrow further, but rather than make a big deal about it right now and waste more time, Noctis just nodded his head. "Of course I remember," he hissed in return. "They're trapped and we need to get to where they're at so we can help them, _remember_?" If Gladio wanted to throw attitude at him, Noctis could throw attitude right back.

But Ignis stepped between the two of them, eyes narrowed and tone serious as he said, "while you two were _bickering_ , I managed to override the pulses that are blocking my biometric scanner," his voice a cool and calm threat to both of them to shut their mouths.

Gladio flashed Ignis an apologetic and sheepish expression, rubbing an armored hand over the back of his neck and nodding once. "Good," he answered. "What's the situation?"

Turning his head toward the door, he gave a quick scan of the area on the other side. "I'm picking up thirteen biometric signatures in the main hall. There are three in the very back of the facility, likely Cor and the others. They're all hunkered down, but fi-" He stopped speaking completely, blinking hard and straightening up completely.

"What?" Noctis asked, blinking and trying to call Ignis from his thoughts.

Ignis turned to look at Gladio first, the pair of them exchanging a moment of silent conversation. The nuances were lost on Noctis. He knew his friends, of course, but not well enough to understand what they were saying when they gave each other looks like that. After a beat, Ignis turned to look at Noctis, adjusted his glasses and said, "the smallest heat signature is on the floor," in a very quiet voice.

The smallest heat signature. It didn't even take a second for Noctis to realize what that meant, and it took even less time than that for him to turn around and move for the door again. Gladio reached for his shoulder and pulled him back, shoving him against the wall. "Stop that," he growled, shaking him hard. "You know what's _not_ gonna do him any good? Getting yourself fucking killed so you can't save him."

Noctis shrugged his shoulders forward, trying to push Gladio's hand from his shoulder, but when his friend didn't relent his grip, he finally grunted a disapproving sound. " _Fine_ ," he seethed. "But if we're not going the direct route, we'd better find a way to get over there _fast_ , because if he's on the ground..." He couldn't even finish that sentence. He didn't want to.

To that, Ignis said, "we take the same way the others took." He pointed at a large grate on the floor, and then to an open ventilation shaft over their heads. "I'll take point and Gladio can take rear."

Gladio finally let go of Noctis' shoulder, but his eyes were still narrowed in annoyance, like he was watching to ensure that Noctis didn't run off. He didn't. He _wanted_ to. He wanted to take the direct route to get to where Prompto was all the quicker. But he didn't. Instead, he climbed up into the ventilation shaft and followed behind Ignis. Annoyance rose up when Ignis stopped to peer into the ventilation grate, but that quickly faded into horror when he spotted more of those not-quite-synthetic humans in pods. Was this what Besithia had been talking about? The biometric code attached to his life?

But Noctis hadn't shot him. So, he'd double-crossed them.

Further fury crossed through Noctis' veins as he followed behind Ignis, to the far corner of the facility. As they neared, they heard Cor shout a pained shout, and Nyx desperately cry the captain's name. Ignis' step picked up, as fast as it could in the small corridor anyway, and he used one of his omni-daggers to pry the grate from the ventilation shaft. All three of them dropped down one after the other, and while Ignis and Gladio immediately started with combat, Noctis couldn't stop himself from looking at the scene around them. Prompto lay on the ground behind the barricade, unmoving, and Noctis felt his heart leap up to his throat. But that was actually tame compared to Cor.

Nyx was crawling across the barricade, a hole in his armor temporarily patched by a small omni-shield, toward Cor, who lie on the ground with his hands covering a massive hole in his suit's abdominal area. Blood seeped from his stomach, and he stared blankly at the ceiling. Nyx barely flinched at the new combat sounds entering the room, only spared a look over his shoulder to see Ignis and Gladio ducking behind the barricade. Noctis, rather than going for cover too, raised his barrier and charged at the still-advancing enemies with all the force he could muster. He impacted with a deafening biotic smack, and followed up with a charged biotic punch to the ground that sent every one of the surrounding enemies flying. Accompanying his fist hitting the ground was a shout that echoed out through the halls of the facility.

A couple of shots accompanied his furious biotic tirade, and a cursory glance over his shoulder noted that only Gladio was firing. Ignis was likely tending to Nyx, Cor, and Prompto. But Gladio and Noctis were more than capable of handling these troopers themselves. Behind him, one of the troopers got to their feet, and Noctis called up his omni-blade to slash across its chest. It finally sent the trooper to the floor.

Before they even had a chance to recover, a low rumbling whir shook the facility beneath their feet, and Noctis' eyes shot toward the main hall and the source of the sound. He caught a glimpse of several more of the pods opening, and blinked when he realized that all thirteen of the remaining pods had opened now.

Dashing back to cover, Noctis jumped over to the group behind the barricade to see that Nyx was in combat shape again. Cor was... very much not; he was losing blood rapidly, and Prompto was still unconscious. All Noctis wanted to do in that moment was scoop Prompto up in his arms, carry him to safety on the ship, and wait right by his side until he woke up. But he couldn't. Because they needed to tend to the enemies on their way.

Ignis turned to look at Nyx. "All thirteen of them are on their way now, Commander. What do we do?" That question, coming from _Ignis_ of all people, shook Noctis to his core.

Nyx was silent for a couple of seconds, then said, "the only thing we can do. We fight. Iggy, you freeze as many of them as you can in a stasis bubble. Noct. You charge-nova them before the stasis bubble fades, and fortify your barriers once you hit, and then you follow it up with a bio-grenade, Iggy. Gladio, hit them with _everything_ you have. I'll pick off who I can when I can," he commanded.

"Take it easy, Nyx," Cor commanded, his breath short and his voice quiet.

But Nyx shook his head no. " _You_ take it easy, Cor. Save your strength." There was sadness in his tone, awareness that Noctis didn't even want to recognize in the moment.

So, instead, he waited for the popping sound of Ignis' stasis bubble to hit his ear, and focused up another biotic charge. The biotic explosion that resulted when he hit would have been gratifying in any other situation, but right now, it was impossible to feel anything but terror and worry. As soon as Noctis' nova fist hit the ground, Nyx shot out a hack field that disabled all the weapons around him. Behind the barrier, Gladio fired furiously. Noctis may have been hit by a couple errant friendly fire rounds, but his barriers and armor were more than enough to deflect it. The biotic grenade that Ignis threw, though, wasn't so easily avoided. Noctis dove away when it impacted, and watched from the ground as the troopers floated helplessly up into the air.

Everyone behind the barrier picked them off, until Noctis was standing in the midst of a pile of corpses. Maybe it should have been jarring—and on some level, it was—but he couldn't be bothered with it at the moment. Instead, he turned and full-sprinted back, leaping over cover and glancing from Prompto to Cor. Cor's face was incredibly pale. He'd lost a lot of blood—to the point that it was all over Prompto's armor where he lay on the ground, protected by Cor—and it was still streaming from the wound. It was on Nyx, Ignis, and Gladio's armor, too, and on Noctis' boots where he crouched, spreading rapidly across the floor.

"Iggy, is there anyone left?" Nyx asked.

Ignis shook his head no. "The facility is clear."

"Gladio. Take the captain. Noctis. Take Prompto. We have to get back to the ship."

Noctis didn't need to be told twice. He crawled forward, through the pool of the captain's blood, placing an arm behind Prompto's neck and another beneath his legs. He stood, clutching Prompto tightly to his chest and holding him close. Beneath his helmet, Noctis spotted the dark red of dried blood beneath his nose, and he frowned. How hard had he pushed himself? How hard had he _had_ to push himself? Holding him closer, Noctis turned to see that Ignis was helping Nyx to his feet and Gladio had lifted Cor as well. Ignis had managed to stop Cor's bleeding, which was good, but he'd already lost a lot. And Noctis didn't know what damage had been done underneath that armor.

Turning to look back at Prompto, he swallowed back a thick lump of emotion and followed Ignis and Nyx out of the facility. The main hall of the facility was eerie, with all of the pods open and empty, but Noctis didn't allow himself to focus on it. Vaguely, he heard Nyx giving the command for Gladio to drive their shuttle with Ignis and Cor, so that Ignis could further tend to Cor's wounds until they could get him to Luna. Nyx explained that he would drive the second shuttle with Noctis and Prompto.

The last thing Noctis remembered Cor saying before his consciousness faded was for them to "t-tell Argentum that this isn't his fault. Please."

Everyone exchanged worried looks then, but Nyx was the first one to shake his off, and command the team to hurry to the doors. From there, they split off into two groups. Gladio and Ignis took Cor into the shuttle with the objective inside, and Noctis followed Nyx to their shuttle. The ride back to the ship came and went without any words between Noctis and Nyx.

Noctis and Gladio hurried to the med bay as soon as the shuttles docked, dropping Prompto and Cor off with Luna. Ignis quickly discarded his armor and rushed back up to the med bay to assist Luna however he could. Luna kicked everyone else out of the room—only allowing Nyx to leave when he assured her that the puncture in his armor did _not_ lead to a gunshot wound and was merely from a deflected melee attack—and Nyx gathered Noctis and Gladio shortly thereafter, telling them to head to the war room and prepare a report for Alliance Brass.

They didn't even make it two steps before Ignis stepped out of the med bay and called them back.

When they re-entered the room, they spotted Luna still fussing over Prompto. His armor was on the floor, but she cleaned the skin beneath his nose and cleaned the dried sweat from his forehead. Her posture was slumped, and Noctis could already tell without her even turning around that she was crying.

"It seems... it seems that the captain didn't survive the return trip." Ignis, usually composed and together, was very much not at the moment. "He... Lunafreya surmised that he was hit by a shotgun blast that tore through his armor and his insides. He just... he lost too much blood..." He trailed off after that.

Noctis' feet were rooted to their spot on the ground, even as he watched Nyx walk over to Luna and scoop her up in his arms, allowing her to cry against his shoulder. Gladio stepped forward, too, wrapping his arms around Ignis and hugging him tightly. Noctis' eyes turned toward the med bay beds. Prompto lie in one, and in the other was Cor—Cor's corpse...—and all Noctis could do was stand there and stare dumbly. Cor was dead. The captain. Cor wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to be _immortal_. Cor the Immortal. That was his nickname, wasn't it? This wasn't real, was it? Cor was just sleeping. Unconscious. He'd wake up in another couple of hours or days and be back to ordering the crew around in no time.

In that moment, Noctis' eyes moved from Cor to Prompto, watching where he lie unconscious, his chest rising and falling with his slow and steady breaths. His eyes moved to Cor now. No breathing. No rising and falling. Nothing. Noctis' hands trembled a little bit, and he blinked, the white heat of tears springing to the corners of his eyes and leaking out. Luna hurried over to him, pulling him into her arms and hugging him tightly. She tugged him by the hand, over to Prompto's bedside, and then tugged Nyx into their embrace, sobbing as she leaned her head against Nyx's shoulder.

The next few hours simultaneously dragged and blurred together. They stood together in silence for a few more moments, before Nyx gathered Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio to go to the comm room and FTL with the Alliance and the human embassy. Noctis and Gladio's fathers had been completely gutted by the news, and obviously offended when Admiral Ravus Nox Fleuret had deemed the mission a success. The crew was ordered to come back to the Citadel then, so that Alliance Command could come up with a proper course of action. Nyx made an announcement after that, informing the rest of the crew that Cor had passed.

Noctis was on his way to the med bay to wait for Prompto to wake up, when his omni-tool alerted him of a holo-call. At first, he considered ignoring it. But when he called it up and saw the name on the display, he blinked and dashed to the observation deck instead. The room was almost always empty, and Noctis really wanted to be alone to take this call.

Answering as soon as the door closed behind him, Noctis said, "dad?" his voice shaking even with the short one-syllable word.

On the small holographic interface, Noctis could clearly see the bleariness in his father's eyes. Emotion just barely concealed. It made perfect sense, honestly. He and Cor had been squad-mates years ago. Friends. At the same time, though, it was emotionally jarring. His father was his hero. It had been so, so long since Noctis had seen him emotional like this. The last time was when Noctis' mother died.

"Noctis," his father replied. "Son. I wanted to speak with you outside of Alliance channels."

Noctis nodded dumbly in response to his father's words. "Y-yeah," he murmured.

Regis' holographic eyes scanned Noctis' expression. "Are you alright?" he asked.

To that, Noctis didn't have an immediate answer. "I'm..." He wanted to say that he was okay; wanted to reassure his father that he was fine, but between Cor's death, what happened to Prompto, and all this new information about Cerberus... he wasn't sure if he could.

"Of course you're not," Regis answered. "This has... Command wants to call this mission a success, but it's very difficult for me to feel the same. Cor is..." He trailed off, then breathed deeply. "And then all of this new information about Cerberus. And Prompto. Has there been any news yet? Is he awake?"

Noctis shook his head no.

With a slow and soft sigh, Regis said, "son. I know you've been through much today. But I want you to promise me something."

"Okay," Noctis answered simply, still too dumbstruck to do anything else.

Regis sighed. "Prompto won't take this well, Noctis. The knowledge that Cor is gone," he explained unnecessarily. "I want you to promise me that you'll be there for him. That you won't let him blame himself." His expression was sincere. "That you two will be there for each other. Because you need him as much as he needs you right now."

It really was unnecessary, though. Because, "I would've whether you told me to or not, dad," he answered. "I... between this and the knowledge that Cerberus was behind this, he's..." He would take it hard. It wasn't even a question.

"I know," Regis answered. "But don't forget to let him be there for you, too, son. You're-"

Behind him, the door to the observation deck opened, and Ignis appeared. "There you are-" He stopped abruptly. "Ah. Ambassador. I apologize. I didn't mean to interrupt," he implored.

Regis laughed a soft note. "Ignis, please. We aren't over Alliance comms. You don't have to call me ambassador now. What were you looking for Noctis for?" he questioned.

To that, Ignis laughed a halfhearted note. "Apologies, sir. I merely wanted to inform Noctis that Prompto is awake. And that..." The expression on Ignis' face was dismal. Sad. "That he's responding as expected to the news of what's happened in his absence." Exhausted green eyes were on Noctis now, imploring him for help.

"As expected?" Regis asked.

Ignis nodded. "He's requesting that command discharge him, sir. Lunafreya and I have spent the past few minutes trying to convince him that he's acting rashly, but he won't listen. I suspect that Noctis is the only one who will be able to convince him to listen." He turned his eyes to Noctis now.

Turning to look at his dad's face in the hologram, Noctis pointed to the door. "Dad, I've-"

Regis nodded. "Of course, Noctis. Go. Remember what I said, okay?" he asked. "And call me later, please."

After a short goodbye and a promise to call his dad later, Noctis closed his omni-tool and breezed past Ignis to hurry to the med bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :( :(
> 
> Don't hate me, guys. XD


	7. Damaged

Awareness started seeping into Prompto's senses one by one. First came touch; feeling. It came in the form of a dull ache clawing its way up his spine and into his skull. His body wouldn't let him respond at all, other than to close his eyes tighter against it and wish that the ache would stop. Oddly enough, the next sense that came back was taste. Prompto wasn't sure what he tasted, but it wasn't pleasant in the slightest. Like blood and saliva, mixed with the slightest bit of that awful taste that came when he woke up in the morning after a whole night's sleep. The ache wouldn't let him open his mouth to respond, though.

After that, smell. The smell was strong and medical, and Prompto's lingering headache found it almost dizzying. He groaned in response to the sensation that the scent traveling through his nostrils brought to his head. A low throb shook his brain and his skull, and shortly thereafter, hearing found its way back. A pair of gasps caught his attention from the other side of the room, followed by running footsteps and familiar voices.

Sight came back last. Prompto opened his eyes to see a familiar face hovering over him. Luna had her hand gently on his cheek, tears streaming down her own cheeks as she brushed some hair from his face. Ignis was on the other side of the bed, a hand lightly squeezing his arm in an attempt to bring him into awareness gently. But nothing felt gentle about this. Biotic-overuse headaches always hurt. They always wracked his body for the next several days and made him want to curl up with a blanket over his eyes until he could focus on anything other than the ache of his implants screaming at him.

Apparently, he had that luxury now that he was back on the ship. His eyes went from Luna to Ignis, and he managed the tiniest of smiles. "I'm alright, guys," he murmured. "I... I'm okay."

Ignis' smile didn't meet his eyes, which themselves were bleary with tears both unshed and previously shed. Because of him? He blinked a couple of times, then looked back over at Luna who was still crying. She looked tired. Desperately sad. But Prompto was okay, so maybe that would fade soon. In an attempt to reassure her, he flashed a weak smile.

She didn't reciprocate, and neither did Ignis. That was Prompto's first sign that something was wrong. When he looked between the two of them, he noted the looks of concern they cast upon him. He pushed himself into a seated position, wincing a bit at how his head still throbbed just slightly. He hated how headaches like this lingered. Honestly, he'd probably feel it for a couple of days, before he went back to normal. But that was nothing to be concerned about. He was used to those by now. It wasn't worthy of the concern that his friends were casting on him right now.

"Did, uh... did we get the weapons back?" Prompto asked. Neither Luna nor Ignis had said anything. Not a word, barely even a sound beyond the near-inaudible sounds of breathing.

Finally, though, Ignis spoke up. He nodded his head. "They were hidden in the back of the facility that my group went to." The answer was simple. Short and very to the point. Ignis was typically a bit more straightforward than the others, sure. Not quite to the level that Cor was, but Prompto was used to a certain level of curtness coming from him.

Still, Prompto nodded a quick nod. "What happened after I... you know... passed out?" he asked, raking his teeth over his lip and turning from Ignis to Luna.

When Luna's first response was to close her eyes and turn around, Prompto's concern only grew. What _had_ happened? After collecting herself, Luna turned around and said, "Before I tell you, I want to be sure that you realize that none of this—absolutely _none_ of it—is your fault, okay? Tell me you understand that before I continue, Prompto."

He didn't answer at first. Something had happened. Something bad. He was sure of that now. And it was something that Luna was so sure that Prompto would blame himself for, too. Swallowing thickly, he examined her face, trying to get any indication as to what it could possibly be, but when there was none, he worried his lip in his mouth.

"Because it isn't your fault," she continued, placing a hand on his shoulder. "None of what happened is your fault, okay? So don't blame yourself, because... because no one else could have done any better than what you did." Tears sprang back to her eyes again, and she looked to Ignis on the other side of Prompto's bed for assistance. Prompto's eyes followed hers to Ignis, who nodded twice. He didn't speak the words, but he was more or less telling her that he would handle it.

Breathing a sigh, Ignis took a couple of seconds to compose himself, before speaking up. "You remember the biotech soldiers." It wasn't a question, but it didn't have to be. "The pods kept opening. All of them opened, actually, by the time the fighting was over."

Prompto blinked twice, hard, and then stared at Ignis with wide eyes. "But there were, like, thirty of them! I mean... those things weren't easy to take out, either! That's why, y'know... I passed out and stuff!" He paused, realization dawning on him. He'd passed out, which meant that Nyx and Cor had been forced to fight off wave after wave by themselves. "Oh... oh! Are... are Nyx and Cor okay?" His eyes dashed around at the other beds in the med bay, and a tiny wave of relief washed over him when he realized that they were all empty.

It was short-lived, though, when Luna responded with a strangled sob, and turned her back to him again. She took a shaky breath and turned back to him. "Nyx is fine," she answered.

Of course, the fact that she only mentioned Nyx didn't escape Prompto's attention at all. He blinked twice, then turned from her to Ignis and asked, "what about Cor?" his voice shaky in its concern. Why weren't they answering him? Why wouldn't they just tell him?

Ignis paused and swallowed what Prompto assumed was a nervous lump, adjusting his glasses on his face. "The biotech troopers kept coming after you lost consciousness," he explained. "I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but Cor took a hit to the stomach that tore through his armor. By the time Noctis, Gladio, and I got there, the floor was already covered with his blood..." His tone was slightly strangled.

"So... so, why's he not here, then?" Prompto asked, his eyes wide as he looked around the room again. All of the beds were empty. But the one in the corner was covered in barely-dried blood. And Cor's armor was still on the floor, with a giant hole in the abdominal area, just as Ignis had said.

When Prompto looked back at Ignis, he was surprised to see him wiping moisture from his eyes. "The captain... he's in cryo-storage, Prompto."

Cryo-storage. Prompto blinked a couple more times at that revelation. Cor was in _cryo-storage_? A shotgun blast that tore through his armor, and he was in cryo-storage instead of in the med bay? Another blink and further realization dawned on him. Cryo-storage. He wouldn't have to be in cryo-storage if he was alive, would he? Blinking hard, he turned to look at Ignis in an unspoken question.

Luna breathed a sigh and squeezed his shoulder. "Ignis did what he could when you were still down on Chaos," she explained. "But he'd already lost so much blood by the time Ignis and the others got there, and..." She trailed off, glancing down at the floor, then back up at Prompto again.

No one had said the words, and Prompto wasn't even sure he'd be able to, either. But with a shaky breath inward, he tried anyway. "Is... is Cor... d-dead?" he croaked.

The single nod Ignis gave in response was louder than any word could have been, especially since he had to turn his head down; Prompto assumed to blink back tears. The captain was dead. Cor Leonis, Cor the Immortal, the Lionhearted Admiral; one of the bravest and best soldiers the Alliance had ever had... was dead. Prompto had passed out in combat, woken up, and the captain was dead.

"Don't blame yourself, Prompto, please," Luna pleaded. "Cor even told Ignis and the others to tell you not to blame yourself. It's not your fault, okay? No one could have known..."

Luna was still talking. Prompto could hear her. But her words weren't registering. He stared at his hands in his lap, thinking about what had happened on Chaos; all of those weird synthetic-human soldiers. Maybe they couldn't have known what would happen, but Prompto was confident—certain, even—that if Noctis had been on Alpha instead of him, Cor wouldn't have died. Noctis never would have passed out. Noctis _never_ would have pushed himself so hard that he passed out in combat and put the rest of his team at risk. Noctis wouldn't have even had that problem to _begin_ with, honestly. Because he wasn't broken. He wasn't defective.

Because of his stupid, faulty implants; because he'd lost control... the captain was dead.

Prompto choked a sob, blinking hard to try and stave off tears. He felt Luna's arms around him, hugging him tightly and trying to soothe him, but he shook her off, pushing himself to his feet. "D-don't," he murmured. "Don't feel sorry for me. Feel... feel sorry for the captain. He didn't... he shouldn't have died. He should be... _I_ should have-"

"No," Ignis responded sternly. "Don't say that."

Snapping his head back up to look at Ignis, Prompto shook his head. "But it's _true_. Cor's a better soldier than I am. He'd never push himself so hard that he'd..." He blinked hard, backing a couple of steps away from Ignis and Luna, before they could try to comfort him again. He didn't deserve it. "I... it should have been me," he whispered, backing a couple more steps away and only stopping when his legs crashed into the med bay bed across from his.

But Luna didn't stop in her approach. She took a couple of steps toward him and shook her head no. "That's not true, Prompto," she insisted. "It should have been _neither_ of you-"

"But it _wasn't_!" Prompto snapped. "It wasn't neither of us. It was Cor. Because I... because I couldn't keep myself from going full on _broken_ mode, Cor is dead! And you're sitting here trying to tell me that it's not my fault!" As if to prove his point, his still-aching head throbbed and sent a sharp and painful shock down to his spinal implants, which had him stumbling and grabbing hold of the bed for support. A rush of embarrassment flooded up with the sadness, and he blinked hard, trying fruitlessly to stave off tears.

Luna reached out to place a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "Prompto... it's not-"

But it was. Luna would never acknowledge it, and neither would Ignis. No one would. No one ever blamed him for his body's betrayal or his faultiness. "It is," he interrupted, sniffling pathetically. "And I'm going to... I've got to go and tell Alliance Command that. So that... so that they'll give me my discharge papers."

To that, Ignis shook his head and joined Luna in front of him. "You're acting rashly, Prompto. Don't let your sadness color your decision," he insisted.

"Am I?" Prompto asked with a shaky tone, turning his head to look at Ignis and Luna. "What... what if it had been Nyx? Or Gladio? Or... or Noct?" He could barely manage to choke out that possibility. "W-would you still be so willing to dismiss it as—as not my fault? It _is_ my fault. And I shouldn't be here anymore if I'm just going to..." To put them all at risk.

Luna looked at Ignis, then muttered a soft request to go and get Noctis, before turning to look back at Prompto. Ignis was hesitant, looking from Luna to Prompto, but with a glance back at Luna, hesitantly, he turned around to head for the door. Prompto wished that he hadn't. He didn't want Noctis to see him like this. Luna turned back to Prompto then, placing a hand on his cheek and turning him to look at her.

She shook her head. "Prompto, the team couldn't handle losing both you and Cor. We need you. You know that, right?" she asked.

He blinked, the heat of more tears sliding down his cheek embarrassing him even more. "Why?" he asked softly. "Why do they need me, though? What... what do I do that no one else does? Noct has stronger biotics than me. Nyx and Ignis are better hackers. They don't need me, Luna. All I do... all I do is..." Short out and break. Sometimes he wondered how he'd ever passed the physical tests needed to get _into_ the Alliance. He had, but he wondered how.

"That's not true, Prompto," she answered. "How many other ground missions have you been on? And how many times have you passed out on the battlefield? None, until now."

Huffing a humorless not-quite-laugh, Prompto sniffled. "But the one time I did, I got the captain killed," he responded, turning and looking away, trying not to let her see the tears streaming down his cheeks. "And it's always a risk, Luna. What if next time it's Nyx? What if next time, it's _everyone_?" His tone was pleading with her to understand. He was a liability. Everyone was safer if he was away from all of this.

Before Luna could answer, the door to the med bay opened. Noctis stood on the other side, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Prompto, even with everything else in the room. Luna turned to Noctis for a moment, before turning back to Prompto and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Please, Prompto. Please listen to him, okay? Please think about it before you do anything rash."

Prompto made no move to hug her back. Instead, he turned and looked at the floor in the corner of the med bay, trying to will the tears from his eyes. Noctis didn't need to see him cry. He heard Luna's footsteps crossing the room, and then heard the door to the med bay open and close again. Silence overcame the room then, aside a couple of whirring sounds coming from the ventilation system and a couple of other things in the room. But without looking, he could feel Noctis' presence in the room. Neither of them spoke, but the next thing that Prompto heard was the echo of Noctis' footsteps crossing the room. Before he could even register the proximity, Noctis' arms wrapped around him and pulled him close, hugging him tightly.

It was strange. They'd been friends for years. It wasn't the first time Noctis had hugged him or anything. It wasn't exactly _common_ , but it still wasn't the first time. When they'd graduated high school. When Prompto had surprised him and just showed up on the Regalia after he'd learned that he was assigned to it. There were other times here and there, he was sure of it. But this one... this one felt different.

Even after everything that had happened, everything he'd just learned, that hug made Prompto feel safe. Safe enough that he couldn't prevent himself from reciprocating the hug, burying his face in Noctis' shoulder, and letting go of the tears that he'd been trying (and sort of failing) to hold back in front of Luna and Ignis.

"Please don't leave..." Noctis whispered into the embrace, his voice shaking.

So, Ignis had told him. Not that it was surprising, really. And maybe it was better that he had. This way, Prompto didn't need to tell him. Prompto didn't answer. He wanted to agree to whatever Noctis asked him to do, and most of the time, he would have done exactly that. Most of the time, he would have been falling over himself, tumbling head over heels to give Noctis whatever he wanted. Anything to make him happy. Anything to make him smile. But... in this case, what would make him happy and what would make him smile wasn't good for him. It wasn't good for anyone.

Prompto shook his head against Noctis' shoulder. "H-have to, Noct. Just gonna get everyone killed," he blubbered. _Pathetic,_ his brain taunted.

But Noctis shook his head no, pulling out of the hug and looking Prompto over. "You're not," he insisted. "What happened there wasn't your fault, Prompto. We had no idea what... we had no idea what they were doing there, you know?" He craned his head just slightly so that he was looking Prompto square in the eye. "What were you supposed to do, _not_ fight back against all those... those things?"

"But..." Prompto reached one hand up and wiped his eyes. "If it had been you, you'd've been able to take it. You'd've had no problem, and Cor wouldn't be..." He trailed off. He didn't want to finish that sentence.

Noctis shook his head no. "You don't know that," he answered. "No one knows what would've happened..." He sniffled, before pulling Prompto to him in another hug. 

Prompto couldn't resist leaning into him again, closing his eyes against Noctis' shoulder and shaking his head. "You wouldn't. Because you're... you're brave and strong and you could've fought them all by yourself, I bet. Without anyone else to help you. The captain wouldn't have needed to fight as hard to compensate for you, and... and he'd still be-"

"Don't do that, please," Noctis begged. "Please, Prom. Please don't blame yourself."

But Prompto shook his head no. "It's _true_ , Noct! This team doesn't need me, okay? It doesn't need me dragging it down! Being the weak link. Get-" he stopped abruptly, choking on his own words, before continuing- "getting people _killed_! I..." Still, despite what he was saying and how truly he believed it, he didn't loosen his hold on Noctis. In fact, he clung tighter.

It wasn't like he _wanted_ to leave. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to get on FTL comms with the Alliance and tell them to send him his walking papers. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to step away from the one place that felt like home to him; the one _person_ who felt like home to him. But if it was a choice between feeling at home and being happy, and Noctis and the others making it through a mission all in one piece? Well, there wasn't even a choice to make.

"Everyone on this ship would be better off if I wasn't here," Prompto murmured against Noctis' shirt.

Much to his surprise, though, Noctis hummed a negative answer. "N-no," he insisted. "No, that's not true. We need you, Prompto. We need... I." He paused, pulling back from the hug, but keeping his hands on Prompto's shoulders. " _I_ need you. I need to have my best friend here, you know? Without you, I..." He stopped to swallow thickly. "Remember the other day? How I was saying that I've never known what it was like to be without you since high school?"

Prompto simply nodded.

"I don't want to, Prompto. I don't..." Even speaking the words, Prompto could hear the trembling in Noctis' voice. "Please don't leave us. Please... please don't leave _me_."

The request took Prompto completely off-guard, and at first, all he could do was blink stupidly. Bleary, tear-filled eyes looked at Noctis' own— _also_ surprisingly bleary—and it took him far, far too long to come up with anything to say. In his heart, in the deepest corners of it, he still thought that it was probably safest for Noctis, not to mention for the rest of the crew, if he wasn't there. If he stayed on the Citadel, as far away from this ship as he could possibly be. But, for whatever reason, Noctis wanted him here. Noctis claimed to _need_ him here. And he was such a sucker for giving Noctis whatever he wanted, that he was willing to cast aside what he thought was best.

After blinking again, Prompto finally answered. "Okay," he said, nodding once at Noctis.

Noctis' responding hug warmed Prompto from the outside, right down to the very center of his heart. After another shaky breath, he clung back to Noctis like he was a lifeline. Like he was the only person in the galaxy who mattered. It was probably close enough to the truth right then. Silently, he made a vow—both to himself and to Noctis—that if he was going to stay here, he was going to get stronger. He wasn't going to be weak; he wasn't going to be the cause of anyone else dying. He needed to learn to control his biotics better. He needed to train with the master.

And Prompto only knew of one person that fit that bill.


	8. Adept

The week long shore leave provided Prompto with a perfect opportunity to seek Gentiana out. Being an ambassador, the asari was busy most of the time. But she'd actually taken a leave of absence to mourn Cor along with the Regalia's crew, so it made everything all the more perfect. Well, not perfect. There was nothing perfect about any of this, honestly. They shouldn't have been in this situation, and Prompto _still_ didn't believe that he was anything less than completely to blame for things being as they were. Being at the funeral, being around people mourning and remembering exactly how incredible Cor _was_ did very little to help that guilt dissipate, too.

Strong people. People he'd never seen give the slightest bit of emotion, like Noctis' dad, or Gladio's dad, or Cindy's dad. Weskham, too, was completely and totally crushed. It made sense. They were tight-knit back in their ground team days, too. Back when Noctis' dad had struggled to make a name for himself.

After they'd spaced Cor's ashes from one of the many Citadel airlocks, and met back at the park on the Presidium for a small remembrance reception—Prompto had never understood the point of receptions after funerals, honestly; most of the time, people just wanted to go home after all the sad stuff was done—he scanned the crowd for Gentiana's familiar blue scalp-crests. The thought of the conversation he'd had when she'd insisted that he _call_ them scalp-crests and not tentacles made him laugh a bittersweet laugh. He and Noctis had been talking about asari, how interesting their skin-color made their freckles look, and then Prompto had made a joke about it being "difficult to style tentacles, though." 

Gentiana made herself known then, by quickly interjecting and declaring them 'scalp-crests,' then lecturing Prompto and Noctis for about a half hour on asari physiology. When he spotted her, she was by herself at the refreshment table. He turned his head to see Noctis busy talking with his dad about something or another, so he took the opportunity to slip away and approach her. With an apologetic glance toward Noctis' back, he hurried over to her and pulled in a nervous breath before he reached.

"G-Gentiana?" he asked her nervously, busying himself by grabbing a glass of asari honey mead from a tray on the table.

The woman turned, her eyes immediately going to the honey mead in Prompto's hand. She smiled and turned to search the table, before picking a glass of her own. "Ah, Prompto. I wondered if you would seek me out," she admitted, eyeing the effervescent liquid in the glass, before bringing it to her lips and taking a drink.

Blinking a couple of times, he nodded his head. "Y-yeah," he nodded. "I, um... I wanted to ask you something." He glanced into his own glass, watching as the bubbles floated to the surface, before taking a long drink in an attempt to steel himself.

Gentiana smiled fondly. "Well, unless it is of the origin of asari honey mead, I doubt you will find the answer in that glass," she teased gently, reaching over to tap him on the chin and force him to turn his attention toward her. Only when he'd looked, did she continue speaking. "So, what is it?"

Prompto laughed awkwardly, before taking another drink from his glass and clearing his throat. "I was wondering..." he mumbled once he swallowed, "if you could help me. I mean... Noct was teaching me some of the biotic conditioning exercises that you taught him, but he was always too easy on me and forced me to stop whenever I got the slightest twinge of a headache, and the only way I can allow myself to go back on the ship is if I get better, if I'm not going to put anyone else in danger with my faultiness." The whole request was spoken in one breath, and after a brief gasp for air, he continued. "I only have a week of shore leave so it'd have to be a really quick training session but-"

The asari silenced him with an index finger to his lips and a gentle smile. "That is more than enough time, Prompto," she insisted.

Blinking, Prompto brushed at some of the condensation on his glass with his thumb, then turned to look at Gentiana. "Wait, really? Because Noct took a really, really long time to master what he's done and I don't want to be anything short of the best I can possibly be, so I really need to-"

This time, she raised her finger to her own lips instead of touching it to his. "The first thing I am going to need from you is to trust me," she insisted. "Much of my training involves meditation, and the rest is awareness of the body and where your energy is flowing from." She effortlessly flicked her hand out, illustrating her point by using a gentle biotic blast to rustle the leaves of a nearby tree. 

"It won't be as easy with me as it was with Noct, though. I'm..." he glanced down at the ground, ticking his head to the side in a shrug. "My implants are-"

Once again, she interrupted him with a shake of her head. "That is your first mistake," she assured him. "Counting yourself out, just because your implants are not as advanced as Noctis' or anyone else's. You are just as capable as the rest of them. And by the end of the week, you will be much more confident in that." She smiled a confident smile, then placed her hand on his shoulder.

Prompto was surprised, a bit doubtful, but grateful all the same. He nodded his head eagerly. "Okay. What do I have to do, then?"

Gentiana looked over at where Noctis spoke with Regis and Ignis, and Prompto followed her eyes. "I will need you to come and stay at my apartment for the week," she told him. "And we will need to minimize distractions as much as possible. It is up to you, whether you tell Noctis or not, but I suspect that if you do, he will try and come with y-"

It was Prompto's turn to interrupt Gentiana, and he did so by shaking his head adamantly. "No. I..." He paused. "No. I don't want him to know, anyway. Because... because he'd try to tell me that I don't need any improvement. He'd tell me that... that I'm fine the way I am, you know?" He turned to glance at Noctis.

It was funny. Noctis' words always affected Prompto far deeper, far stronger than anyone else's did. Luna and Ignis had tried to tell him not to leave the ship, and he'd been unwilling to listen. The second Noctis said anything at all in his favor, though, he cast aside what he believed to be true and fell all over himself to make sure that Noctis stayed happy. Maybe Luna was right. Or... maybe _he'd_ been right when he'd been _talking_ to Luna and slipped up. Whichever. Maybe he _was_ in love. The thought leaped up like a thousand crickets, hopping from his stomach to his heart, and he blinked twice, hard.

He swallowed thickly, watching as Noctis leaned into an embrace with the Salarian Ambassador, Camelia Claustra. When the embrace broke, he started scanning the crowd, and Prompto carefully positioned himself behind a pillar and out of Noctis' view. "I'm not fine the way I am," he insisted. "That's why I..."

Gentiana nodded her head in understanding. "That is fine, Prompto. That is why I asked you, to begin with," she answered with an assured smile. "If you would like, we can depart now, so that you can gather some clothing from your apartment without Noctis catching you."

Prompto nodded his head eagerly. "Y-yeah. That's... that's a good idea," he nodded, setting his unfinished glass of mead down on the table. 

And with a final glance over his shoulder and an unspoken apology to Noctis as he started walking through the crowded park—presumably looking for Prompto—he departed with Gentiana for his apartment. The walk was filled with chatter. Solely Gentiana asking questions and Prompto answering them. The chatter wasn't about biotics, or about any sort of painful discussion about Cor like Prompto expected. Instead, Gentiana asked Prompto what food he enjoyed, how he liked the Regalia, and about his photography. At one point, she even asked to see his photography drone.

The conversation continued almost nonstop for about an hour, until they reached her apartment in the upper wards. Prompto had been to the upper wards quite a few times—that was where Noctis' dad lived, and where Luna and Nyx, Ignis and Gladio, and several of the other crew members lived; he often spent holiday dinners in the upper wards—but never to this area. The apartments were huge. Massive. Not like the tall buildings in the lower wards with dozens of different apartments in them. Gentiana's apartment was at the edge of the ward, with a _gorgeous_ view of the nebula outside. The pink swirls of the nebula were worthy of a picture, Prompto decided. So, he summoned his drone and had it fly high above him, getting a shot of the unobstructed view of the Insomnia Nebula.

"This is a really, really nice part of the Citadel. I didn't think they put apartments this far out," he admitted. But evidently they did, because the other arms of the Citadel, visible relatively clearly from where he stood, all seemed to house similar residential areas.

Gentiana nodded, and watched his drone as it floated back down and then disappeared back into his omni-tool. "Most people prefer to live closer to the center of the arms, because if anything were to ever cause the arms to jettison, this ward would be among the first to go. But as I spend most of my time closer to the center of the wards in the embassies, I'm not terribly worried about it," she admitted with a soft laugh.

Shouldering his bag, Prompto nodded his head, then followed Gentiana as she opened the door to the apartment. It was very clearly decorated in Gentiana's influence. The same black that she draped over her body was on each and every bit of furniture, and the walls were painted a blue that was lighter than the color of her skin. He was about to open his mouth to ask how they were to go about starting his training, when his omni-tool bleeped with the sound of a message. Calling it up and glancing at it, he frowned. Noctis.

Physically swallowing back his guilt, he ignored the call and breathed in a slow breath to steel himself. He put his omni-tool on silent, then turned to look at Gentiana. "So... how do we start this?" he asked her.

A confident smile crossed Gentiana's face, and she nodded a confident nod. "First, I will show you my training space. You may bring your bag with you, as you will be sleeping in Lunafreya's old room and it is upstairs as well." She beckoned for him to follow her, and started toward the stairs.

The blue walls and black furnishings continued up the stairs and down the hall, and Gentiana stopped in front of a door in the middle of a hallway that looked too long to fit into the apartment that he'd seen from the outside. She announced it as Luna's old room, and Prompto remembered all of a sudden that Luna, once her parents had passed away and when Ravus fully immersed himself in the Alliance, went to live with Gentiana. When he opened the door, Luna's influence was obvious in the room. It was mostly white, smelled softly of the perfume that she always wore, and had photos of the whole crew on the walls. Cor with Noctis' dad, Gladio's dad, Cindy's dad, Mess Sergeant Weskham, and Gentiana. That one made his lips draw down into a frown, and he forced himself to look at the other pictures, instead. Luna, early in her relationship with Nyx. Gladio and Ignis with Iris at her graduation. Cindy and Aranea in a drinking contest. Noctis and Prompto laughing and playing pool together at one of Noctis' birthday parties. His eyes drew to that one, and he smiled a soft smile.

He was always his happiest when he was with Noctis, or thinking of Noctis. He crossed the room, while Gentiana stood in the doorway, and took the photograph down from where Luna had stuck it in the side of the mirror. "I remember when this was taken," he muttered arbitrarily, uncaring whether Gentiana was listening or not. "It was on Noct's sixteenth birthday. Luna treated us to dinner and then we went to play pool at Flux."

Gentiana laughed fondly. "Lunafreya came home that night, told me all of the stories, then immediately printed the photos out and added that one to her mirror collection," she mused, placing a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "Get changed into your workout clothing, and meet me in the last room on the right, please." And with that, she retreated from the room.

Prompto breathed a deep sigh, nodded resolutely to himself, put the photo back in the edge of the mirror, and got into his travel bag. Sifting through toiletries, he tugged out and changed into a pair of jogging shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt. Sliding his feet into his sneakers, he pulled in a deep and nervous breath and cast a final glance around Luna's room, before stepping out into the hall and down to the room Gentiana had directed him to.

When he opened it, he glanced around. Several holographic training dummies lined a back wall, and several mirrors lined another. Exercise equipment stood near the door—arm weights, leg weights, and treadmills, as well as a rack with jump ropes, exercise mats, and deflated exercise balls—lined the near wall. But what _really_ caught his attention was the fact that the wall that faced open-space was completely covered with a line of windows, giving a clear view of the swirling pink of the nebula outside. Gentiana wasn't in the room yet, so he walked across the room and placed his hand on the window, tilting his head to get a good look as a small convoy of shuttles took off from the center of the Citadel.

"Cool..." he intoned, awe dripping from his voice as the shuttles broke through the barrier surrounding the Citadel and took off into deep space.

A soft chuckle filled the room, and Prompto turned to see Gentiana in the doorway. She wore workout gear as well, and she stepped into the room, leaving the door open behind her. "When I moved in, it was walled over. I had a construction crew remove it and replace it with windows, and now it's an ideal place to meditate."

Prompto tilted his head to the side. "Meditate?" he asked her.

She nodded. "You will be very familiar with meditation by the time you leave here, but we will start that later." With confident step, she walked partway across the room and then stopped, turning toward Prompto. "To start, I would like you to show me your form. Charge up a warp blast, and then strike these dummies," she told him, gesturing to the dummies behind her.

Nodding once in acknowledgment, Prompto swallowed nervously. Focusing his energy, he pushed it all to his hand, charging up a warp blast and shooting it from his hand toward the dummies. It impacted with a low twanging sound, and the striking dummy wobbled a little bit in place. He tingled a bit after the release of biotic energy, then turned to Gentiana with a somewhat confident expression.

That was, until she approached him, shaking her head no. "Less pushing, more flowing," she told him straight up. "Summon it, but do not push it. Let it flow through your muscles, collect in your hands, and _then_ you push it out. Like energy. Your implants will have to work less, and you will have a much stronger biotic strike that way." As if to demonstrate, she moved back across the room, stood beside Prompto, and turned toward the dummies.

The purple swirl overtook her whole body, and Prompto watched as it collected in her shoulder, slid down her arm and into her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she let out a charged warp blast, which shot through the air like a bullet, impacted the dummy closest to the wall, and made it topple to the ground. It wobbled, then stood straight again. She charged up again, then Prompto watched as energy culminated in _both_ of her shoulders and shot from _both_ of her hands; one warp strike and one throw field. The dummy to the right wobbled and fell again, and the one on the left flew back into the wall, before disappearing in a holographic explosion and then reappearing in its original position.

Prompto blinked. "Two at once?" he asked, turning his attention to her in surprise.

She nodded and smiled. "I will teach you to do that, too. It is incredibly useful when you find yourself without a weapon," she told him with a hand on his shoulder. "Now try again. Just one arm for now."

With a nod, Prompto pulled in a deep breath and focused all of his energy into creating a field of biotic energy that overtook his whole body. _Less pushing, more flowing,_ he repeated Gentiana's words in his mind, and then let the energy flow to his shoulder, down his arm, and into his hand. It tingled a bit on the way through, but it wasn't an unpleasant tingle. Pushing it from his hand, he flicked his wrist upward and shot it out at the dummy. Sure enough, it struck with much more force this time, wobbling the dummy to the ground almost as quickly and strongly as Gentiana's own hit had.

He blinked. "I did that?" he questioned, stunned.

Gentiana nodded and smiled. "Of course you did," she reassured him. "I am going to have to have a talk with Regis about not teaching you the proper biotic method, though. When he called me and requested that I seek you out, I thought that he would have at least taught you the same things that he has taught Noctis." She shook her head in slight disdain.

"Regis asked you to seek me out?" Prompto asked, turning toward her and tilting his head to the side.

Chuckling, Gentiana nodded her head fondly. "He said that he suspected that you would seek me out for training, but if you decided not to, that he would like me to seek you out." She nodded at the dummies. "Try again, but with a throw field this time. Then a pull, and then a lift. And alternate arms," she directed.

Prompto nodded and obeyed. "I wonder why..." he murmured, while allowing the familiar biotic tingle to overtake his body.

As the energy surged through his body, Gentiana answered his not-quite-question. "He did not wish for you to leave the Regalia," she explained. "He fears that Noctis would be crushed under the pressure of what is likely to be a promotion to second in command, and knows that he will need your presence there."

That took Prompto off-guard, and almost made him lose control of the biotic energy as it surged down his left arm and from his fingertips. He barely managed to keep it in check, but turned to look at Gentiana afterward. "Noct? Not Ignis?" he asked.

Gentiana nodded at that. "Regis and Clarus asked both Ignis and Gladiolus, but they would prefer to follow instead of lead. Noctis has proven himself to have leadership capabilities, so Regis is not terribly worried about him being in a command position, but he is vaguely worried that he would lose his sense of self with the new responsibility. That is why Noctis needs you, and why the crew needs you. You are the heart of that crew, Prompto. The spirit," she pointed out. "Pull, right hand."

Snapping himself back into reality as the holographic dummy reappeared, he nodded and did as she directed. The new method made his pull field last longer, and he moved out of the way, as if the holographic dummy would harm him in any way. "I didn't... I don't know if that's-"

"It is," she interrupted. "Lift with your left."

He went silent as he obeyed her command, and watched the holographic dummy lift through the ceiling. "You really think I'm the spirit? That... that they need me?" he asked.

She nodded and smiled fondly. "I do. Noctis, especially," she reassured him. Before he had a chance to focus or ask about that, though, she nodded her head back at the dummies. "Show me your strongest singularity."

Nodding once, he obeyed, charging up for as long as he could. Normally, by now, he'd at least have had some sign of a headache. "Noctis especially?" he asked, allowing the energy to surge down through his right arm and flow through his fingers. All of the holographic dummies floated through the air; the whole line of them. It was the widest singularity he'd ever made.

"Ah, Prompto. You two do not realize how important you are to each other," she shook her head. "But you will in time."

Though he didn't understand what she meant by that, he shrugged his shoulders all the same. "As long as I'm strong enough to keep him safe, I don't care," he confessed.

Gentiana smiled a fond smile. "You are. But you will be even stronger by the time you leave here. Come, Prompto. Your next lesson is biotic meditation." She walked over to the rack and pulled out two workout mats, setting them in the middle of the floor. Sitting on hers, she faced out toward the pink nebula outside her window and pulled her legs up into a half-lotus position. "Can you do a half-lotus?"

With a soft laugh, Prompto nodded. If there was one thing that his faulty joints were good for, it was flexibility. He sat on the second mat, first pulling himself easily into a quarter-lotus, then a half-lotus, then a full-lotus; each with zero effort whatsoever. "Bone implants are good for some things, I guess," he commented.

She laughed, nodding what almost seemed like an impressed nod. "Focus like you are going to attack, but hold your energy in your hands," she told him. "Close your eyes, think of something that relaxes you, and just let the energy flow through you."

Prompto did as he was told, letting the biotic energy surge through his body as he closed his eyes. He was vaguely aware of Gentiana's words telling him to breathe calming breaths, but as he sat there, he found his mind wandering to Noctis. To his smile, his eyes, his face, the curve of his dimples when he smiled, his laugh... the safe feeling that overcame Prompto when Noctis had hugged him on the ship the other day. That was his relaxing place. And when he was finished here, he'd be on the way to being strong enough to protect Noctis and the others just like they always protected him.


	9. Haze

It had been five days since Noctis had seen Prompto, and no matter what his dad told him, he couldn't seem to calm down. Luna, too, seemed to be of the opinion that things were fine and that he was overreacting just a little bit, but he couldn't get in touch with him at _all_. Prompto wasn't answering any omni-calls, wasn't answering the door when Noctis went to his apartment... and when Noctis had used the key that Prompto gave him, he found Prompto's apartment empty. Well, not _empty_ , but Prompto wasn't there. He wasn't at any of the places he usually went when he _wasn't_ at home, either.

No one had any answers. He asked Luna if she'd heard anything every single day, and neither she or Nyx knew anything. Sometimes she did that thing where she acted like she _knew_ something but wasn't necessarily going to tell Noctis about it "for his own good." Still, no matter how many times he asked, she never said anything. Nyx always covered for her, assuring him that neither of them knew anything, but that did little but make Noctis worry more. When Noctis asked his dad, his dad always assured him that Prompto was fine, but insisted that he had no information other than that. No one knew. And it was scaring the hell out of Noctis.

All he could think of was the worry that Prompto had gone AWOL. That the funeral had been too much, and he'd just thrown in the towel and ran away to hide. That didn't _sound_ like Prompto. Not at all. But he'd been so devastated by Cor's death that Noctis had no idea what he would do. That worry had been what _caused_ him to open the bottle of Infernian Rum. And it also gave him the answer as to how he'd do without Prompto around.

Consensus: not good.

Compounded on that worry, though, was the worry that came along with the revelation that _he_ was the new XO of the Regalia. Not Ignis. Not Gladio. _Noctis_ was the second-in-command under Nyx. His dad and Uncle Clarus had told him about it, insisted that he was the right man for the job, but Noctis wasn't sure. He knew that certain members of Alliance Brass—Ravus came to mind—thought that he was already unreasonably favored. Didn't this just prove it?

The worry that he'd fail the ship, screw up and ruin everything they'd cultivated over the past few years was what kept him drinking well past the halfway point. In the back corner of his mind, he was _vaguely_ aware that he should probably accompany all of this alcohol with some food of some sort... but he was perfectly satisfied with the booze instead. He sat on his couch, both his TV and his radio playing in the background, and the conflicting noises spun together in his head, making him fumble for his glass on the table. It took three swipes—one of which almost knocked his lamp off the table and another which ended up impacting his fist with the wall—but he had his drink in his hand now and had downed the rest of it in one long swig.

Infernian was right. Cindy and Gladio had always told him that once people got used to the burn of rum, it stopped being quite as bad. But not this. Half a bottle in, and it was still burning his esophagus with every pull. Part of his drunken mind wondered it if it was _actually_ made from the Infernian's fire, a thought which made him laugh as he fumbled for the bottle to pour another glass. Drunken clumsy hands made some of the liquid slosh onto his pants, and he huffed an annoyed grunt. Paper towel. Kitchen. He stood, teetering dizzily for a moment and almost falling, before finally finding his footing. A sip from his full glass, and he started toward the kitchen.

He was halfway there when his whole apartment filled with a familiar ringing sound. It took his liquor addled mind a couple of seconds to register it as his doorbell, but when it did, he altered his course just slightly, walking with stumbling step toward the door. "Comin'!" he announced, using the wall to brace himself as he walked over to the door.

Sober, he probably would have checked the security camera or at least spoken with whoever was outside over the intercom. But drunk, he really just didn't want to be alone. Normally, he'd be with Prompto right now, so he wouldn't usually have been alone, but Prompto was gone. Nowhere to be found. Unreachable. So, whoever was at the door, Noctis pressed the button to unlock the outer door, welcomed them into his apartment with a, "it's unlocked," then turned to unlock the inner door and continue toward the kitchen.

The door whirred open and closed while he was reaching up into the top cabinet for a fresh roll of paper towel, as the one on the counter was completely empty. Two too many pieces came off into his hand when he spun the roll of paper, but his wasted mind didn't care at the moment. Setting his glass down, he dabbed at his pants with the over-sized ball of paper towel and waited to hear whoever it was who'd just come into his apartment. When he did, it was the last voice he expected to hear right then.

"Noct?"

Prompto's voice echoed out through the apartment and caused Noctis to drop the balled up paper towel onto the ground. For a second, while his back was still turned, he thought that maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him. He hadn't heard anything from Prompto in almost a week, which was the longest they'd ever gone without at least some kind of message. And he expected never to hear from him again. So, when he finally turned around and spotted a familiar blond head of hair, familiar blue eyes with their expression drawn down in concern, and a familiar frame... he almost didn't believe it.

Only when Prompto stepped forward, unceremoniously dropping the bag from his shoulder onto Noctis' floor and asking, "Noct, are you okay?" he realized that maybe this _was_ real. That Prompto _was_ here.

Because of that, rather than a verbal answer to Prompto's question, Noctis stumbled forward on drunken legs and threw his arms around Prompto's shoulders. A combination of relief and booze had tears springing to his eyes as he clung to Prompto like he was a life raft; an anchor. It was probably true enough at the moment. "Are you real?" he asked, his words slurring together a bit.

"Man, Noct, you smell like a distillery," Prompto commented, but hugged Noctis back. "How much have you had to drink?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Noctis just clung tighter to Prompto. "Four?" he answered.

"Four what?"

Noctis muttered, "glasses. Of that Infernian Rum that Cindy gave me." He pulled back from the hug and looked Prompto in the eye. "Thought you left. Thought you took off and weren't coming back and-"

In response, Prompto shook his head no. "I told you I wouldn't," he answered. "I just... I had to get better, Noct. I had to go see someone who could help me train." He looked a little bit nervous when he spoke, his eyes cast downward in embarrassment. "I couldn't, you know, be responsible for anything like what happened before, happening again and-"

Cutting him off, Noctis shook his head. "You weren't responsible," he murmured, slurring his words together but not caring at the moment. "Cerberus was." He met Prompto's eyes for a second. They'd always been the bluest eyes Noctis had ever seen, but with the tiniest hint of purple in them that made them hard to look away from.

Prompto was staring back at him, too. The booze had to have been making Noctis crazy, because he was pretty sure Prompto's expression was the same one that Noctis gave him when he was thinking of how much he wanted to grab Prompto and kiss him. "I..." He shook his head hard, pulled back from the hug and at Noctis over. "So, you've had four glasses of that stuff? When was the last time you ate?"

Thinking back, Noctis shrugged his head to the side. "Uh... breakfast?" he answered, but honestly, he wasn't sure. He knew he hadn't had lunch or dinner, but he was _pretty_ sure he'd had breakfast. He reached over his shoulder for the glass of rum on the counter.

Frowning, Prompto blinked twice, shaking his head no and grabbing the booze before Noctis could get it. "I don't think that's a good idea, Noct. We go back to the ship tomorrow, right? You're already gonna have the hangover from hell, so you probably shouldn't drink anymore. C'mon," he suggested, wrapping his arm tighter around Noctis' shoulders and leading him back to the living room.

Noctis turned his head and looked at Prompto, and any objections to leaving his drink behind fell to the floor. "There's... there's something different about you, Prom," he garbled, examining Prompto's face. It was the same; piercing blue eyes and sloped nose, pink lips and freckles that dotted his skin like the galaxy floating around the Citadel. But there was something different about it, too. Something beneath the surface that took what was already beautiful and made it more so.

"What do you mean?" Prompto asked, helping Noctis sit on the couch and taking the bottle of rum from the side table.

What _did_ he mean? "Dunno," he answered. "You look different somehow. The same, but different. Said you were training? Where'd you go?"

From the kitchen, he heard Prompto opening and closing his cabinets, then the tap running. "Oh. Yeah, I went to Gentiana," he explained. "She said I kinda had to... go on lock-down, I guess? But it worked. I don't think I had a headache all week and I was using my biotics a lot." He paused, walking back into the living room with a bottle of water in one hand and a bottle of vegetable juice from Noctis' fridge in the other.

"Really?" Noctis asked, accepting the water when Prompto offered it to him.

Prompto nodded. "Yeah. I, uh... I learned to reave, too." His words were sheepish. Nervous. Very unsure.

Noctis' eyes widened as he twisted the cap from the water bottle. Learning new skills that were outside of a person's repertoire was really, really rare for an L2, Noctis knew that. His dad had told him that the skills Prompto had now were the skills that he'd have his whole life, because his implants didn't allow for learning new ones. But Prompto had learned to reave? "Really?!" he asked, blinking twice.

Nodding sheepishly, Prompto chuckled a laugh that wasn't _humor_ -filled, but more sheepish and embarrassed. "Yeah," he answered. "Gentiana thought that maybe learning a new skill would help me feel more confident. And she was right. It... it did." He shrugged his head to the side. "Um. D-drink some water."

A proud smile crossed Noctis' face. "You're amazing," he said, pulling the water bottle up to his lips and taking a drink.

Prompto didn't meet his eye, just called up his omni-tool and typed something in. "It's nothing special," he answered, grinning bashfully.

"It _is_ though!" Noctis disagreed, watching as Prompto continued typing in his omni-tool. "My dad said that you'd never learn anymore new skills, but you learned to reave? 'S a tough one, too. I don't think anyone else on the squad can do it." He paused, trying to think of what skills the people on the squad had. No one knew how to reave. He hadn't even really been able to learn it.

Shrugging, Prompto finished typing on his omni-tool and called it back in. "Burgers and fries are on the way," he commented, in lieu of any further conversation about his new ability. "Here." He offered the vegetable juice out to Noctis.

Noctis curled his upper lip. "Hate that stuff," he murmured. "Specs wants me to drink it, since I don't-"

"Please?" Prompto asked, pushing the bottle forward again. "If you drink this and that water, and eat the food I just ordered, you might not be praying for _total_ death tomorrow." Only after Noctis accepted the bottle and set it on the couch beside him, did Prompto speak again. "Why'd you drink so much, anyway? I don't think I've ever actually seen you this drunk before."

At first, Noctis' only answer was a one-shouldered shrug. But when Prompto looked at him with worry lining his eyes, Noctis felt compelled to give a real answer. "Was worried. 'Bout you," he started, then took another sip of water. "'Bout being the new XO. Dad picked me, y'know..." He trailed off and finished off his water, then switched the bottle out for the vegetable juice bottle at his side.

"Gentiana told me. Why are you worried about it, though?" Prompto asked, grabbing the water bottle and heading out to the kitchen to refill it.

He uncapped the bottle of red liquid, curling his lip and sighing, before answering Prompto. "Y'know, what about the people who _already_ think dad favors me? Like Ravus or Loqi or their people? What if I screw up and it proves they're right?" He put the bottle to his lips to stop himself from talking and embarrassing himself anymore. But it didn't stop his dizzy mind from spinning with both booze and thoughts. He was way younger than any other XO in the Alliance. How was it anything but favoritism? He hadn't even done anything special to _deserve_ to be a leader. Why had Ignis and Gladio suggested him? And why had his dad agreed?

Prompto came back out into the living room, carrying another water bottle. "When have Ravus and Loqi ever had any idea what they were talking about?" he asked with a wry smirk.

The smirk made Noctis smirk in return. It was true, really. Ravus and Loqi always seemed to have it out for their crew and the 'favoritism' that Alliance brass and the council showed them. But it wasn't favoritism. Not really. Their crew was sent on tougher missions than most other Alliance crews, because they had a unit that the higher-ups _knew_ worked well together. Their ship was well-equipped because they needed it _for_ those missions. Give and take. Cause and effect. But a team like that... they needed a good leader. Was that Noctis?

"Doesn't mean I'd be a good leader, though," he murmured, taking another drink of the awful vegetable concoction. Curling his lip in disgust, he closed the bottle again and shook it up. "I mean, why couldn't Specs have said yes? Or the Big Guy?"

Prompto put a supportive hand on Noctis' shoulder and smiled softly at him. "Because you'll be a great leader. And it's not like you're the new captain, Noct. Nyx is. So, it's not like you're doing it alone. You two make decisions together, and you know that everyone else on the ship trusts you. We all know you were the right pick," he insisted, squeezing Noctis' shoulder and nodding. "Anyone tries to tell us you weren't the right guy for the job, we tell 'em where to go and how to get there.." He nodded his head.

It was funny. Prompto was always sincere. He always, _always_ meant what he said. But right then, Noctis could tell that he meant and felt every single word he was saying. It made his heart warm a little, and he smiled a bashful smile. Every time he'd thought about Prompto all week, he'd wondered what he was supposed to do without him there, and now that he was back, that wonder only doubled. What would he have done if Prompto had never come back? How would he have dealt with all of his new responsibilities without Prompto there to reassure him that it _wasn't_ too much for him? What would he have done if he never got into look at those blue eyes again?

"I missed you," Noctis admitted, the heavy curtain of drunken haze making the words come out far easier than they would have otherwise. "Shore leave's not the same without you."

The words seemed to take Prompto off-guard, and he glanced down at his lap, pulling one side of his lower lip into his mouth. "I missed you, too," he admitted, letting his hand drop from Noctis' shoulder and tapping his thumbs together to the beat of the song coming from Noctis' stereo. Noctis saw the beginnings of a pink flush coming to his cheeks, and was about to ask when the doorbell rang. "That's the burgers."

When he excused himself to go answer the door, Noctis glanced down at the vegetable juice in his hands and pondered Prompto's words. He was right. It wasn't like Noctis was doing it alone. He had the rest of the crew. He had Nyx. He had Prompto, too, which brought a slight grin to his face. Prompto hadn't left. He should have known better than to think Prompto would just leave without saying anything, especially after promising Noctis that he wouldn't. That wasn't him. He glanced up when the second door to his apartment hummed open, and Prompto reappeared with a pair of large paper bags.

"Bacon burger and curly fries," he announced, handing the bag over to Noctis. "And a chickatrice burger with crinkle fries for me."

The smell of the burger when Noctis opened the paper bag made him realize exactly how hungry he was. He half-smiled, turning to glance over at Prompto. "Extra bacon?" he asked.

Prompto nodded and chuckled. "Like I'd forget," he answered.

As they ate, Prompto told Noctis about training with Gentiana. How she taught him how to properly let biotics flow through his body, and how she showed him her biotic meditation technique that made his attacks hit twice as hard as they had before. Luna and Nyx had come by one night for dinner—he'd reassured Noctis that the only reason they didn't tell him where Prompto was, was because Prompto made them promise—and Gentiana had offered to be Nyx's new combat sim partner, so their contests could still continue. Both of them had expressed eagerness for their next shore leave, though they also expressed hesitance toward pushing Cor's name off the list.

He went on to tell Noctis that he still got leg wobbles, unfortunately, but he also admitted to an awareness that those would almost definitely haunt him for the rest of his life. _"The only pain I was in all week was when I got a spinal shock in the middle of trying to learn how to reave,"_ he'd explained. Other than that, he'd assured Noctis that he had no headaches, and that he was as ready as he'd ever been to get back on the ship and put his new skills to use. They talked, going back and forth jabbering about Prompto's time with Gentiana and Noctis' comparatively boring shore leave, which he'd spent the majority of in his apartment, or asking anyone who would listen if they'd seen Prompto. Had he been sober, he'd never have admitted that, but he had. He'd just blurted it out and wasn't even fazed by it. Prompto had seemed bashful, but had shrugged it off relatively quickly. From there, they'd spent the next few hours talking about everything and nothing. Just like they always did.

"Been awhile since you had a shock, hasn't it?" Noctis questioned, his mind still a bit addled with booze, but circling back to their conversation about spine shocks.

Prompto nodded his head. "It wasn't a bad one, either," he clarified, putting his leg back on the floor from where it had been resting on his knee. "Just kind of took me by surprise." 

While he talked, Noctis couldn't help examining his face. He really was gorgeous. He'd been gorgeous since the day Noctis had met him. Golden blond hair, blue eyes, perfect smile... Noctis watched his lips as he talked—admittedly, he was only paying partial attention to what was being said—the curve and the color, the shape and the softness. Suddenly, all Noctis' hazy mind could think of was closing the distance between them and kissing those perfect pink lips. When Prompto turned to look at him, an eyebrow arched in a silent question, Noctis did just that.

So many years, he'd wondered what it would feel like. So long, he'd wondered if Prompto's lips were as warm and soft as they looked. They were. They definitely were. And while the kiss was way, way sloppier than Noctis knew he was capable of, it was still enough to make his heart stutter just a little in his chest. And it was almost enough to completely sober him on its own. Almost. But not quite. When he pulled back, Prompto's cheeks flushed bright cherry red and his eyes widened.

"Noct... you..."

"I'm..." Noctis blinked twice, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He'd kissed Prompto. He'd kissed Prompto and Prompto hadn't pushed him away or asked him what the hell was wrong with him. But Prompto _was_ looking at him in concern and confusion. "I didn't..."

The words seemed to make Prompto understand something that Noctis didn't quite understand, something that Noctis had never spoken. "It's okay," he answered, his voice a little bit sullen as he spoke. "You're... you're drunk. You didn't mean it, right? Probably... probably won't even remember it tomorrow..." The smile on his face didn't quite reach his eyes.

It wasn't like he was wrong. At least not about the being drunk part. Would Noctis remember it? He didn't feel _quite_ as drunk as he'd been earlier. Sure, his brain was still a bit foggy. Still a little bit muddled by all the booze he'd drank. But the combination of time, food, and water had helped to combat that quite a bit. Still, maybe it was better that Prompto _thought_ he was that drunk. It would be easier to explain away that way.

"R-right..." Noctis nodded his head.

If he allowed himself to look for long enough, Noctis could _almost_ say that Prompto looked disappointed by that answer. But he didn't. Noctis looked down at the floor, his face warm with embarrassment that he tried to blink back. "It's no, um... it's no big deal, Noct. No sweat," Prompto insisted, brushing it off and putting a hand on Noctis' shoulders. "But we should, you know... go to bed. It's going to take forever to work you through that hangover tomorrow, I bet."

Noctis blinked a couple of times, turning to look back at Prompto. "You... you gonna crash here?" he asked.

Prompto nodded, raking his teeth over his lip. "Do you need help upstairs?"

Shaking his head no, Noctis swallowed nervously. "No. I'm... I'm okay. Uh... thanks, though," he stammered, standing up and wobbling just a little bit.

They exchanged their good nights, and then Noctis headed for the stairs. With his back turned, allowed the full weight of what he'd just done to crash down on him. His best friend. Sure, he'd been pretty much head over heels crazy for Prompto since high school. But he was always so, so good at hiding it. There had been a hundred thousand—a _million_ , even—better opportunities than that to kiss him. And just because he was drunk, he let his guard down for a split second and risked ruining everything. When he lay down in bed and pulled the covers up to his neck, he realized one thing for absolute sure.

He may have been drunk when it happened... but there was no way he'd ever forget it.


	10. Normal

If Noctis remembered anything about kissing Prompto, he never said a word; never gave any sort of sign at all. If Prompto himself didn't think about it as often as he did, it would be almost like the kiss never happened. But Prompto did think about it. He thought about all the time he'd spent _wanting_ it to happen; wishing that he had the nerve to just do it. And then, just like that, it had happened. It wasn't perfect, but at the same time, it was. In quiet moments, he found himself thinking about it. The warmth and softness of Noctis' lips against his, the way he looked at Prompto before he did it; like Prompto was the only person in the world. Like Prompto had always wished, _dreamed_ , that Noctis would look at him. Maybe he was just imagining it, but he could swear that it was what he saw.

And Noctis didn't even remember.

Noctis _had_ , however, woken up the next morning with a hangover as bad as Prompto had expected. It had taken four cups of coffee, two pain relievers, and a plate full of pancakes to get him even halfway to his normal self. Eventually he got there, though. He was almost completely better—and endlessly grateful to Prompto for making him breakfast and helping him through it—by the time they went to the Regalia.

Everyone on the crew seemed impressed with Prompto for taking the initiative and seeking Gentiana out. Luna, since she'd known about it beforehand, made sure that everyone knew how impressed Gentiana was with his skills. To his surprise, even _Ignis_ , of all people, had seemed envious when he'd mentioned that he'd learned to reave. Ignis had requested for Prompto to teach him Gentiana's training techniques, and all of a sudden, it was decided that Noctis and Ignis would join him in his planned daily meditations in the observation deck. It was strange, being praised by all of the strong ones on the ship. Strange... but good.

It wasn't like the team didn't applaud him when he did well or anything. They did. They always made a huge deal to make sure that he realized how impressive he could be when he put his mind to it. But this was different. Or, at least it felt different. Ignis wouldn't let go of the fact that Prompto could reave now. Evidently, he'd tried and tried to learn to do it, but couldn't get it down; all he could get was a longer lasting warp field, without the regenerative effects. Gladio and Nyx didn't really have the understanding of how biotics worked, but after they each took their turn putting Prompto in an annoying headlock—Nyx _had_ given him a noogie this time, which was majorly annoying—they'd expressed how proud they were of him. And for once, Prompto felt deserving of that pride.

While Noctis and Nyx headed to the comm room to talk to Noctis' dad and several of the Alliance admirals, Prompto sat in the mess hall with some kind of rice dish that Weskham had put together, but he couldn't really bring himself to dig into it. His mind wandered back to Noctis' apartment. There had been something really different about Noctis that day. He'd sounded different. Spoken different. Even before the kiss, the thought of which made Prompto's cheeks heat up against his volition, there had been something different about the way he'd said that he missed Prompto. It was something Prompto had never heard him say before, because of how little they were apart, but... the way he said it didn't sound like anything Noctis had never said to him before. His tone was softer, quieter. Almost... shy.

Noctis was drunk at the time, though, so it made perfect sense that he didn't sound like himself, right? Prompto had seen Noctis drunk a couple of times. Once when they'd snuck out of a party at Noctis' dad's apartment with a couple of bottles of beer for each of them. It hadn't taken much at all to get _both_ of them drunk that day. The next time was at Aranea's birthday on the Regalia last year, when she'd assured them that rules didn't apply that night and that they could have some of her very expensive vodka. That night, it had been Prompto who'd gotten embarrassingly drunk, except he'd only ended up puking over the latrines with Noctis rubbing his back. He was so drunk that night, that it was almost a miracle that _he_ hadn't kissed _Noctis_. He remembered most of that night, though. Noctis didn't remember any of this one, Prompto was pretty sure.

It hadn't occurred to him that he'd been sitting at the table in the mess hall for about half an hour, moving chunks of chickatrice meat around in his rice so that it barely resembled the decorative dish that Weskham had created anymore. Before he knew it, the sound of the elevator sliding open echoed through the room. Footsteps echoed down the hall, and Prompto glanced up to see Noctis, headed toward Luna's office.

When he spotted Prompto, a strange expression crossed his face for a split second. Embarrassment? Prompto had seen Noctis embarrassed before, definitely. But never when it came to him. Just as quickly as the expression appeared on Noctis' face, though, he replaced it with his usual smile and crossed the room. He stopped behind Prompto, placing his hands on the back of the chairs to Prompto's left and right, and arched his eyebrow. "What is _that_?" he asked, pointing at Prompto's meal.

Prompto glanced over his shoulder at Noctis, who was leaning over his shoulder and glancing at the plate. Close. They were close again. Prompto could smell Noctis' cologne—it smelled softly of roses and wintergreen—and for a second it was hard to focus on anything else. But he pulled himself out of it, chuckling in response to the question and glancing back at his plate. "It started as that rice bowl you like," he explained. "But my mind went all wandery and I, y'know... haven't touched it yet."

"Looks like you've touched it plenty, actually," Noctis mused in response, walking over to the kitchen area and smiling when he realized that there were leftovers. He filled his own bowl and came over to join Prompto at the table.

Finally, Prompto stabbed at a piece of chickatrice meat and brought it up to his lips. He popped it into his mouth, and made a face. Cold. But if he didn't eat it, Weskham or Ignis would get on his case for wasting food. "So, how was the meeting with brass? I figure Ravus had a lot to say." Impaling another piece of meat and then scooping some rice along with it, he took another bite.

Through a mouthful of food, Noctis answered, "yeah. You know. Most of it was saying it without saying it. Disagreeing with the other admirals and my dad about our policy and calling Gladio's dad a 'doddering old fool' for choosing me." He glanced back down at his plate and sighed a soft sigh. "Dad explained that Ravus was gonna be in charge of most of our assignments, too. And that we were due to _report_ to Ravus and Loqi for a new-captaincy assessment inspection whatever... thing in two weeks. That's gonna be great."

Rather than answer right away, Prompto slid a couple pieces of chickatrice meat through the sauce that had collected at the side of the food, and hummed thoughtfully. "I mean, we don't have anything to hide," he insisted. "And you're still gonna make a great XO, Noct." He ate what was on his fork, but continued talking. "I don't think you remember what I said last night, do you?"

A suspiciously odd expression crossed Noctis' face, and he glanced at his plate, rather than at Prompto. "Um... no," he answered, shoveling some rice onto his fork.

It was weird, because that was the expression Noctis always wore when he was lying. But why would he lie about something like this? He didn't remember anything about that night, right? If he hadn't been too drunk to remember, there was no way he would've kissed Prompto. Rather than dwell too much, he just chuckled softly, and shrugged one shoulder. "I told you that we've all got your back," he explained. "That you're not the captain, and that Nyx has your back, too, so it's not like you're doing it all yourself. Right?"

"Yeah," Noctis agreed.

Prompto stood and walked over to the fridge in the kitchen, gathering two small bottles of asari fruit punch and bringing them back to the table. He slid one over to Noctis, before uncapping his own. "Besides," he started once he'd taken a drink, "even Gladio and Ignis would rather follow you than lead themselves. If that's not a big 'you're good to go,' then I don't know what is. N7 people, Spectre candidates, and they think you're good enough to follow?" He shrugged his head to the side, then took another drink.

Noctis smiled sheepishly. "I'd say I don't know what I'd do without you, but..."

Laughing, Prompto shrugged. "Apparently we know the answer now, right?" he joked. "Drink yourself into a stupor until you don't remember anything." His tone and his expression showed that he was teasing. At least he hoped so.

Except, the way that Noctis refused to meet his eye, and focused his attention down to his plate instead of looking at Prompto made him curious. But before Prompto had a chance to ask, Noctis shrugged. "It's cool, though. You did what you had to do, you know? I probably would've tried to make you stay. Told you that you didn't need to change and kept you from going to train. I'm proud of you. Just, uh... you know. Just in case I didn't say it last night."

Whether Noctis had said it or not, and no matter who else had said it, hearing those words coming from Noctis made him feel even better than hearing them from the others. Maybe that was ungrateful or selfish, but he couldn't help it. "You did," he told Noctis. More or less, anyway.

A few seconds of comfortably silent eating, forks scraping on plates and the humming whir of the ship's systems in the background, and Prompto glanced up from his plate to see Noctis staring down at his in thought. He finished off the last of his meal and got up to put his plate in the sink, but glanced over his shoulder as he walked away. "So, is there any word on what our next assignment is?" he asked.

Noctis glanced up from his plate, apparently taken by surprise by the sudden break in silence, but shook his head no. "Ravus said that he was going to hand assignments to the rest of his fleet before he got to us. You know. Give all of them the easy jobs before he came to us with the worst one possible," he mused with a wry little grin.

Laughing a gentle note of amusement, Prompto smoothed a hand through his hair. "Guess it was too much to hope that they'd send us to check the loungability of some beach chairs on some tropical planet or something, isn't it? That's what the Alliance is for, right? Lounging on beaches and working on our tans?"

The smirk on Noctis' face grew. "You don't tan, Prom. You burn like kindling," he teased.

"Look who's talking, there, Lieutenant Two Week Sunburn on Galdin Beta," Prompto retorted. The leave they'd taken on the beach planet a year ago had been pretty fun and everything, but the pair of them had come back looking like a pair of ripened tomatoes or something. Noctis had somehow managed to be worse off than Prompto, likely because of all the time he'd spent on the beach fishing. Without sunblock. No matter how much Ignis had warned them.

Noctis smiled a real smile at that. "We should go back there sometime," he suggested. "It was pretty hilarious seeing you try to surf."

Scoffing an annoyed note—but unable to hide the amusement in his eyes—Prompto crossed his arms at his chest. "Oh, yeah. Watching me flail around like an idiot on my surfboard, falling off and landing in one of those gross piles of red kelp. So amusing. I looked like the sea monster when I came out, remember?" he paused, smirking.

The laugh that Noctis gave in response made Prompto's heart flutter. "We should _definitely_ go back there sometime," he insisted.

"If we go back there, the only boarding I will be of the hover variety," Prompto pouted dramatically in response. Though if it amused Noctis that much, maybe he could be convinced to try and surf again. But he didn't say that aloud. He leaned sideways against the kitchen counter, then smirked at Noctis again. "But you're right. We should go back there sometime. Maybe without everyone else like last time." The last part escaped without his permission, and he clamped down hard on his lower lip, glancing down at the floor.

After a couple of beats, Noctis spoke up again. "I think that's a pretty good idea," he answered, his tone a little sheepish, but overall normal. "It was pretty fun with everyone, but I think with the two of us, it could-" Before he could finish, Noctis' omni-tool rang out through the room and he stopped abruptly, glancing down and heaving a soft sigh. "That's Nyx," he murmured, standing from the table and pointing up to the war room. "Guess Ravus got back to him about where we'll be going. Hang in the lounge? I'll come find you when I'm done. If you want, I mean."

Prompto nodded his head. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead," he waved Noctis toward the elevator.

When Noctis retreated with a sheepish wave, Prompto pushed a sigh out through pursed lips and glanced over at where Noctis had left his empty plate on the table. Laughing a huffed breath, he crossed the room and gathered the plate and bottle from the table, depositing the plate in the sink and the bottle in the trash. He had to admit, he was kind of proud of himself. He thought that maybe it would be difficult to talk to Noctis after that kiss. But things felt good. Normal. Just like they always did. Maybe there were some weird little things here and there in Noctis' expression or in the way he looked like he was lying about one thing or another, but Prompto figured that it had something to do with the fact that he was stressed out. His new position and all that.

The lounge. Prompto heaved a little sigh and started toward the lounge, but made a quick stop at the photo and plaque that they'd put on the wall to honor Cor. The small gold engraving didn't seem like enough for the captain, honestly. Maybe, Prompto decided, he could ask Regis to have something larger made on the Citadel. Cor was a legend. Maybe not to everyone in the Alliance, but to the crew and to Regis himself, so he couldn't see Regis disagreeing.

Pausing to examine the plaque, he pulled in and then pushed out a soft sigh. "Thanks, Captain," he spoke to the captain's picture. "For seeing me as worth saving. Both times."

No, Cor hadn't been the one to save Prompto personally when Regis and his crew had stormed the Cerberus base, but he'd been there. He'd been among the group, and they'd all ensured that Prompto—the only experiment Cerberus had left behind when they'd bolted away—escaped and had a good life. He pushed a hand through his hair, swallowing back emotion and blinking back tears. While he still didn't believe that he wasn't responsible for the captain's death, he was more confident in the fact that he belonged here now. Gentiana had reminded him several times over the course of his training that Cor had seen him for his skill and for what he brought to the team. That Cor thought of him as vital.

_"He was always telling Weskham and I of the great potential in each of you," Gentiana explained to him. "He told me that he believed you to have a great strength in you. One that hasn't been discovered yet."_

_Prompto responded by looking at Gentiana in disbelief. Great strength? If he had some kind of great strength in him, then why had he needed to seek Gentiana out to be able to fight without passing out? Without getting people killed? His eyes turned out to look at the nebula outside of Gentiana's training window, and he shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe," he answered._

_Gentiana placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. "Not maybe," she insisted. "The only reason you are unable to look inside of yourself and see the true potential you have is because you judge yourself too harshly." She smiled warmly at him, a kind, motherly smile. "Being able to see that you need help is a very, very good thing. But do not think of yourself as defective or broken. You are a very strong-willed individual, Prompto. Cor knew that. Regis knows that. Weskham knows that. I certainly believe it."_

_The sincerity in her words made Prompto choke on emotion that he'd been holding back since Cor's funeral. "I just... don't want to let him down. Waste what he found worth saving that day," he muttered._

_"You will not," she shook her head no, pulling him into a hug. "Because you did not give up on yourself. You are here, improving yourself, and you are going to go back to the ship when you're finished, twice as strong as you already were. Cor would be incredibly proud of you. He is. From the beyond."_

_Prompto thought of Noctis in that moment, how maybe he_ would _have wasted what Cor had done for him, if not for Noctis' encouragement and plea for him to stay. That made the emotion bubble up even further as he hugged Gentiana and sobbed convulsively against her shoulder. "Th-thank you, Gentiana..." he whispered._

Breathing a sigh and smiling a sad smile at the plaque and the picture, Prompto nodded his head. Tears welled up in his eyes as he brushed a couple of wrinkles from his Alliance uniform and stood at attention, saluting the picture. Once he relaxed again, he looked both directions to make sure that no one else was in the area to see that, then headed toward the lounge to wait for Noctis. Cor _had_ deemed him worth saving. While he may not ever be able to look at himself and see anything but broken and defective, everyone on the crew trusted and believed in him, so the least he could do was trust himself a little bit more.

If all of these people believed in him, if Noctis claimed to need him... then he couldn't be _too_ broken, could he?

With a calm smile on his face, he settled onto the couch in the lounge and glanced out the window at the stars as they passed by. Wiping his eyes of the remnants of tears, he leaned forward. Honestly, he kind of owed Noctis a debt of gratitude, too. If Noctis hadn't been so determined that he still wanted and needed Prompto around, he'd have resigned himself to stay back on the Citadel and be nothing but a big lump of misery. But because of Noctis' plea, because there was absolutely nothing in the world that he wouldn't _do_ for Noctis, he got to stay. He got to stay in his home, with his family.

And wherever Alliance Command sent them next, Prompto was strong enough to protect that family even better than before.


	11. Halcyon

"You are to go to Midgardsomr in the Jormungand System." Ravus' voice was curt and commanding as he spoke to Nyx. "There are signals from an unidentified information probe there, and no other crew is equipped well enough to weather the planet's harsh flora and fauna as you are." After a pause, he huffed a breath and shook his head. "I suppose that the favor you seem to have garnered from the rest of Alliance Command comes in handy here and there," he commented derisively, turning to Noctis when he spoke and sneering.

Just beneath his skin, Noctis could feel his fury bubbling. Garnered favor. As was standard with Ravus, everything that could even be mildly considered a compliment always had a flip side. He said something nice, and in the same breath, without skipping a beat, he turned around and rescinded it without actually rescinding it.

Nyx and Noctis got the worst of his hatred, most of the time. Nyx, because Ravus had never really approved of the fact that his sister had fallen for him. He hadn't even shown up at their wedding. He'd sent a gift of money, addressed only to Luna, with a promise that his door was always open if she changed her mind. She'd been livid, sent the money back to Ravus, and had very limited contact with him since then. At the wedding, Nyx had joked to the guys that he half-expected Ravus to burst through the doors and turn it into a cliche by objecting when Cor had asked if there was anyone who saw any reason why they shouldn't be married. Noctis had laughed at the joke then, but now he completely and totally understood the concern.

For Noctis' part, he knew why Ravus hated him. Ravus had been the prime candidate to a few other Alliance admirals to be a part of the Regalia's crew, but the second that Noctis passed his Alliance tests and training, Ravus' name was overturned and he was sent to a different ship. Sometimes, Noctis wondered why he was so angry, honestly. On his ship, before his promotion to Admiral and his return to Alliance Command on Eos, _he'd_ gotten got to be captain. That was what he'd wanted all along, wasn't it? To lead a team? Noctis couldn't see him being happy working under anyone. Maybe there was another reason he hated Noctis so much, but for the time being, he didn't worry himself too much with finding out what it was. They were long past the point of worrying about Ravus' approval. Even further past the point of realistically thinking that they could get it.

If they were to report to him, though, Noctis had to remain civil, as hard as it was sometimes. And sometimes, the only way he could _do_ that was not to say anything at all. So, as Ravus glared at him, expecting him to rise to the bait, he managed to stay at attention with his hands behind his back, and keep his glaring to a minimum. Standing to his right, Nyx seemed to sense the tension, and he cleared his throat and brought Ravus' attention back to him.

Calmly—somehow, after all that Ravus had put him through—Nyx asked, "Do you have a location? And a geothermal scan? If I'm remembering right, the Jormungand System is pretty uncharted. Out at the far edges of the galaxy, right? The only planet that I've got any intel on already is Banderstatch's moon, Jabberwock-"

"I'm aware of the name of the moon, Ulric," Ravus snapped in response to Nyx's calm comment. "And I didn't address you."

Nyx blinked in surprise, somehow managing to keep his cool under Ravus' sharp response, though Noctis could see the anger bubbling just behind the new captain's eyes. "Sorry, sir," he responded in his 'addressing-a-superior' voice.

When Noctis noticed the slightest upward twitch in Ravus' lips at the feigned respect in Nyx's tone, it took all he had not to actually show his anger. The obvious shift in Noctis' demeanor only seemed to amuse Ravus even more, and he folded his hands confidently at his chest, grinning at Noctis. "Something to say, Caelum?"

"No, Ravus," Noctis responded, his tone an annoyed growl. "Do you have the information on Midgardsomr? Or are we supposed to go in blind?"

Ravus' upper lip curled. " _Admiral Nox Fleuret_ , Caelum. The rest of the admirals may allow you to get away with insubordination, but if you think that I'll sit idly by while you fail to show _respect_ for my position and what I've earned, you are sorely mistaken. Just because you're a golden child-" He cut himself off, breathing in a seething breath and sneering. "But, _to answer your question_ , no. As Ulric stated, the Jormungand System is mostly uncharted. Which is why it's all the more alarming that a probe of unknown origin was detected in the area." His tone was chiding, condescending, like he was talking to a pair of unruly children.

Neither Noctis nor Nyx spoke up. Barely-concealed anger still bubbled underneath the surface in Noctis' mind, but he kept it calm, kept it tamped down for the time being. With an eye cast toward Nyx, he realized that the captain was angrier, so he spoke up on Nyx's behalf. "Thank you for the intel, sir," he spoke, his tone _trying_ to keep his annoyance in check.

It seemed like Ravus was either _looking_ for reasons to be mad, or was just trying to provoke them, because with a heaving, annoyed sigh, he said, "now if you're done wasting my time with your pointless questions, I've a massive load of paperwork to prepare in regard to our inspection meeting. I _do_ hope you're prepared. I would hate to deliver a lackluster report back to the ambassador," he taunted.

The goodbye was terse, with Ravus all but forcing them to salute him and give him a respectful goodbye, and in the quiet comm room, Noctis eased out of attention and turned toward Nyx. "All the admirals in the Alliance, and we get him," he huffed, annoyed, as he rested sideways against a bar that jutted out from the wall.

Nyx chuckled and huffed. "Tell me about it. Won't be surprised if he petitions to get me discharged or something. We gotta make sure the ship's in top shape for this inspection. I imagine he'll use any little thing as a reason to write us up." He puffed a sigh through closed lips, then hit the intercom to talk to the flight deck. "Aranea."

"What's up, Captain Tightpants?" Aranea's voice came over the intercom, and Noctis couldn't fight a smirk.

Despite his grumbling, Nyx managed a ghost of a smirk. "How many times do I have to ask you to stop calling me that?" he asked her.

Noctis could hear the smirk in Aranea's voice when she replied. "One more time. Just like last time," she teased. "So, what's the problem, Tighty?"

This time, Noctis couldn't stop his laughter at all, instead opting to stifle it with his hand and smirk at Nyx. "Least you're upgraded to _Captain_ Tightpants now," he commented with a little grin.

"Not helping," Nyx grumbled, then turned back to the intercom. "Plot a course for the Jormungand System. Next assignment is on Midgardsomr."

Once Aranea gave an okay, Nyx stepped away from the intercom and turned to glance at Noctis. "Think we're good for now. I'll let Iggy and Gladio know where we're headed and hopefully, Iggy'll be able to come up with some intel, since Ravus was absolutely no help whatsoever," he murmured in annoyance.

Noctis chuckled bitterly, his eyebrows raised. "You honestly expected him to be?" he asked.

Shaking his head, Nyx rolled his eyes. "I guess I hoped. Like, I should've known better. Especially with you _and_ me in leadership roles. Guess it was still too much to hope that his sister being on the crew would make him take it easy on us." He clapped a hand on Noctis' back and led him out of the comm room. "How are you adjusting, anyway? Got your own bed and everything. Bet that's nice."

That _was_ a pretty big perk. "Not quite as big as _your_ bed or anything, since you get a whole damn floor to yourself, but I can't wait to use it," Noctis joked, "but yeah. Gotta admit, it'll be a nice change not to have to fight the whole rest of the crew for beds. Bet Prompto's gonna come and crash on the couch in there, too." Not that Noctis minded.

"Why not just let him crash in the bed with you?" Nyx teased, shoving Noctis ahead lightly.

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, Noctis shook his head. "How about you _shut up_ , Captain Tightpants?" he huffed, annoyed.

Nyx laughed. "Talk about insubordination." He joined Noctis in the elevator.

"Seriously, though," Noctis muttered, hoping that a topic change would be enough to get Nyx to stop teasing him about Prompto. How everyone suddenly knew about this was a mystery, since he'd tried for so long to keep it under wraps. "I just hope I live up. You and Cor... you were the perfect team, y'know? Tough, but fun and fair. Kept everything running smooth. I'm..."

Initially, Nyx's only response was a gentle punch in the arm, but when Noctis looked at him, he was smirking. "A good leader, is what you are. We'll be alright, Noct. Give yourself some credit." When the elevator door opened on the third floor, Nyx practically shoved Noctis out the door. "Now go meet up with Prompto in the lounge. Bitch to him about Ravus for a little bit," he teased, smirking a knowing smirk at him when the door closed.

Prompto. Noctis swallowed nervously and glanced down at his hands. He and Prompto had been friends for years. Since their freshman year of high school. Noctis' crush had formed during their sophomore year. He'd loved Prompto since their junior year. Never once, no matter what happened, had Noctis ever been nervous to be around him. Sure, there were times now and again when Prompto would smile or laugh when it would make Noctis feel weak in the knees or when he'd say or do something that would make Noctis feel fluttery and nervous in _general_ , but those moments always passed as quickly as they came up. This time, he'd messed up. If Prompto ever managed to find out that he _remembered_ what happened in his apartment that night... their friendship would be ruined.

Luna seemed convinced that he was being stupid, not coming clean and telling Prompto that he remembered everything. But he wasn't convinced. What good could come from it? Prompto was never secretive about his feelings. When he wanted or didn't want something, when he felt or didn't feel something, Noctis was always one of the first people to know. For that reason alone, he had to believe that Prompto would've done _some_ thing by now to let him know that it wasn't unwelcome.

Most of the time, Noctis was so good at pushing his feelings to the side; pretending they weren't there, and just being Prompto's friend like he'd always been. Apparently, though... after a couple of drinks (a couple _too many_ drinks, more like), he turned into the type of idiot that jeopardized everything important by acting on impulse.

Sucking in a sharp breath, he raised his head and glanced toward the lounge. If he wanted things to be normal, he had to _make_ them normal. Which meant doing the same things he always did. Casual laughter, casual shoving, casual hugs and arms draped over shoulders; nothing worth panicking over. Nothing that normal friends didn't do. And he _definitely_ couldn't psych himself out of just spending an evening in the ship's lounge with his best friend like he always did. With that in mind, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned the corner and headed into the lounge.

Prompto sat on the couch, listening to some weird dance song on the stereo, but he turned and looked over his shoulder at Noctis when the sound of the door opening filled the room. The smile he flashed at Noctis was one of those smiles; the ones Noctis had just been thinking about. It was just a little quirk of the lips. An innocent little smile that was completely and totally normal. But against the backdrop of the passing stars out the window, it was enough to floor Noctis. Fortunately, before he needed to collect his brain enough to come up with something to say, Prompto spoke up.

"So, how was Ravus?" he asked, sliding down and making room for Noctis on the long couch. "Bet that was an awesome conversation."

The question provided Noctis with the perfect chance to get out of his own head, and he smirked when he met Prompto's eyes. He vaulted the couch and sat down, shrugging his shoulders and nodding. "Y'know. The usual. Telling us how we're nothing but idiots and don't deserve this ship. But at least we know where we're going now," he shrugged.

Prompto nodded, pulling his legs up to sit butterfly-style. "And where's that?" he asked.

"Midgardsomr. In Jormungand. Pretty sure it's literally the last system in the Milky Way that we've even remotely discovered, but it's still pretty uncharted." Noctis stretched his arms up and over his head. When next he spoke, his voice was a stretching grunt, and each word echoed off the metallic walls alongside the music in the room. "Ravus didn't even have any intel for us. I know I should be used to being sent to uncharted systems like that, but part of me feels paranoid, because I feel like he's setting Nyx and me up for failure."

After a beat of quiet pondering, Prompto shrugged his shoulders and glanced out at the stars as they passed. "Maybe he's trying to," he commented, before turning his head to look back at Noctis. He pulled one leg from the butterfly position and kicked Noctis' knee casually. "But it doesn't matter. We're not gonna fail."

Noctis smirked. "Half expected you to tell me I was being paranoid," he pointed out.

Prompto shook his head no. "Nah," he answered, resting his arms on the back of the couch and then turning his head to look back out as the stars passed by the ship. "It was all but decided that Ravus was gonna be pissed about this. All we can do now is what we always—what we _usually_ do. Go in, kick ass, leave, deliver a mission accomplished report to Alliance Command, and then do the next thing on the list." He let his head loll back, then closed his eyes.

While Prompto's eyes were closed, Noctis' weren't. He stared at his best friend, at how different he seemed now... but how _similar_ he really was. Admittedly, Noctis was really glad that he hadn't changed too much. It was good. It was _really_ good, actually, that even with his new found strength and confidence, even while he still felt like he was responsible for what happened to Cor, he was still the same old Prompto. The same old kind, easygoing, dorky, clumsy Prompto that Noctis had always known. Noctis never wanted him to change.

"I'm glad you think it'll be that easy," Noctis said calmly, but then let a little smirk cross his face. "I guess it will be as long as we make sure Ignis drives the Mako instead of you, right?"

At that, Prompto's eyes shot open, and he looked at Noctis with a glare that was about as threatening as an angry kitten's. "Flip the Mako _one time_ and no one lets you live it down," he scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically and smirking, like deep down he _knew_ that flipping the tank was _definitely_ ground for having his driving privileges revoked. "It's not like we didn't flip it back."

Noctis laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and Specs spent the _whole rest of that mission_ in horrible anxiety that some of the fuel was going to get into the engine and we would explode."

"Did it?"

"No."

"Then he was totally overreacting." Prompto stood from where he'd been sitting and walked over to the dart board on the other side of the lounge. Grabbing the small dart gun from the table, he loaded some of the darts in and beckoned for Noctis. "Wanna play?" he asked.

Noctis stood, nodding his head as he stretched his arms behind him. "Yeah, alright. Make it interesting?" he asked, grabbing the second dart gun and loading it up.

Smirking, Prompto nodded his head. "Yeah, okay. Best of three shots, then. I win, I get rights to sleep on the couch on your brand spanking new quarters whenever I want for the rest of forever." He pointed a finger gun on his opposite hand at Noctis' face, then glanced over at the dart board. "And you can't make me leave."

It wasn't like Noctis would do that anyway, but that was beside the point. If that was what Prompto wanted as his term, it was what he'd get as his term. "Surprised you didn't go for the gold and try to demand the bed," he joked, going quiet for a second and pondering his own victory term.

"Wait, that was an option?" Prompto asked.

Noctis shrugged. "Too late now," he teased.

Grumbling a frustrated noise, Prompto shrugged his shoulders and nudged Noctis with his shoulder. "What're your terms, XO Caelum?" he teased.

XO Caelum. Noctis made a face at that. "Don't call me that," he said flatly. "No matter what my rank is, don't call me anything but what you usually do, please." Because the moment Prompto thought of him as a rank, instead of as just himself... hope was really lost. He really _was_ just another Alliance big hat, and as much as he wanted to be like his dad and his Uncle Clarus, he didn't want _that_.

Prompto seemed surprised, but his expression was sheepish and apologetic. "Sorry," he murmured.

"Don't worry about it." Noctis went quiet then, pondering his terms, and then pointing over at Prompto. "If _I_ win, you have to challenge Gladio to a treadmill running contest and actually _try_ to beat him."

With jaw agape, Prompto stared at Noctis, blinking twice in amazement. " _That_ is cruel and unusual punishment, Noct. And now there is _no way_ that I'm going to lose. You go first, and be ready to _lose_." He stepped out of the way, and hopped up to sit on the small bar in the corner of the lounge.

It turned out, Prompto's confidence wasn't bustle. Not that Noctis really thought it was. Noctis was a good shot, but Prompto had _always_ been better. He'd been the best pistol shot in their Alliance training class, and even though Noctis was the closest behind him, that didn't change the fact that Prompto could hit a bullseye from about a hundred yards further than Noctis could. That, Noctis had to admit, was the only reason he felt even the _slightest_ bit okay with challenging him to challenge Gladio. Because he was sure, more or less, that he wasn't going to win. As soon as the third shot hit the dartboard, right in the center, Prompto's celebratory cheer echoed throughout the lounge.

"Yes!" Prompto celebrated, throwing his arms up and over his head. "Permanent lodgings! No more sleeper pods for _this_ guy!" He pointed both of his thumbs at himself and then turned to smirk at Noctis.

Admittedly, Noctis' disappointment at the loss was pretty fake. But he played it up pretty well, throwing his head back and clenching his fists dramatically. "You'd _think_ I'd know better than to challenge you to a shooting contest. Usually don't take bets I can't win," he grumbled. "And I can't even blame you for cheating, because I know you're a good shot. Not even fair."

Prompto smirked a little bit, and opened his mouth to speak, when a motion that Noctis noticed as the familiar look of a leg wobble, snuck up on Prompto. Prompto stumbled forward, and would have impacted hard with the floor, if Noctis hadn't stepped sideways, reaching his arms out to catch him before he fell too far. When he looked down, at first, all he saw was a tuft of blond hair, gelled and styled so that it was right in front of Noctis' face. But after a couple of seconds, Prompto glanced up at him. Bright, purplish-blue eyes met his for a long second—several seconds, actually—in stunned silence.

A silence that lasted several more seconds. A silence in which Noctis examined Prompto's face up close. He thought of that night on his couch, when he'd been emboldened enough by the alcohol to close the distance between them and press his lips to Prompto's. It would've been so easy right then. Especially when Prompto stood back up straight, but didn't move out of Noctis' space right away. He was closer, even. Probably because Noctis was holding him in place with a hand on each side of his ribs.

The very second he realized that, Noctis bit his lip hard and released his hold. "S-sorry," he mumbled, turning his head and trying to stop the red from spreading across his face.

It was quiet for another couple of seconds, and Prompto cleared his throat nervously. "D-don't be," he answered. "Thanks. For catching me, I mean. That would've been a tough fall."

"Yeah..." was Noctis' only reply.

A few more seconds of silence, and Prompto finally spoke up again. "So! Um... since, I won fair and square, I need to go to my locker and get my blankets, and take them to your couch!" He announced. Noctis felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Prompto standing right next to him. "And remember. Don't worry about Midgardsomr. It's like I said. We'll get it done, and then Ravus will have nothing to say."

Noctis was too dumbstruck to answer, so he just nodded. After an exchanged smile—Noctis was pretty sure that his was more of a weird not-quite-smile than an actual smile, to be honest—Prompto retreated from the room. The pulsing beat of Prompto's music echoed through the otherwise silent room, and Noctis glanced down at the floor. Up until _very_ recently, he'd been able to keep things in check. All it took was the knowledge of what Prompto's lips felt like against his, and now it was all he could think about. He had to get this in check. He _had_ to. Of all the things in the world that he could lose... his friendship with Prompto was the only thing that he absolutely _couldn't_. Especially over something as stupid as one-sided feelings.

Puffing out a breath, he moved over to the bar and grabbed a small, shot-sized vial of some weird purple asari liquor that Cindy and Aranea seemed to love. He shook it up, as the directions on the bottle indicated, then twisted the top off and downed it in one gulp. It didn't _quite_ burn like the Infernian rum, but he had to hope that it would do what liquor was made to do, and make him relax a little bit.

With that in his system, he turned toward the door, and left to follow Prompto to his locker.


	12. Massive

Unruly flora was an understatement. The Mako had a very, _very_ limited open patch of land to make its landing, and even then, Ignis had seemed worried that they'd strike the trees when they impacted. Not that it would have slowed the Mako at all, of course, but that didn't change the fact that Prompto hated it when they accidentally harmed planets like this. He wasn't a tree-hugger or anything, but planets like this, where the trees seemed to reach limitless heights—to the point that if he hadn't _seen_ their tops, he would wonder if they were even there to begin with—and had burgundy red trunks with purple leaves... he wanted to change as little about the atmosphere as possible.

Aside from the trees, there were bushes with colorful leaves, and flowers of _endless_ colors. Luna liked it when Prompto took pictures of uncharted planets. So, when the atmosphere was deemed breathable (and while Gladio, Ignis, Nyx, and Noctis got their bearings) he popped out of the top of the tank and took several photos of all of the flora that surrounded them. Saving them in a folder, he ducked back into the tank and slid across the back seat to get a look at what the others were examining.

"The signal looks like it's coming from north-northwest. About half a mile out," Nyx announced. "Either on or beyond that mountain area, depending on what's on the other side. Means we've gotta cut through the forest here, though. Which is fine. Just gotta pay attention to everything. We don't know what's gonna come from where so we've gotta be ready for anything."

Noctis turned his head, smirking a little bit. "Guess it's all the better that Prom's not driving, then."

"Right?" teased Gladio. "The last thing we need is for the Mako to end up flipped over again. Iggy driving through uncharted territory, worrying about causing a class six tank explosion and-"

Prompto grunted. "We flipped the tank back over!" he exclaimed, reaching to his right, and giving Noctis a playful shove to the shoulder. "And before you start in with the 'yes, but we could have exploded,' we _didn't_. Someday, I'll live that down enough for you guys to let me drive again."

"Not likely," Ignis insisted.

In the passenger's seat, Nyx glanced over his shoulder with a little grin. "Gotta agree with Iggy there, kid. It'll be a cold day on Ifrit before I let you drive the tank again." He turned his head back toward the front of the tank, then turned to look at Ignis. "Just cut right through here," he directed.

No matter how many times Prompto rode in the Mako, he never really got used to being jarred around. The new, extra space in the back afforded by the lack of a sixth body on their ground team only made that even worse. Side to side he swayed as they rode over giant rocks and logs. Ignis took care to avoid too much of the flora, and as Prompto glanced at the viewfinder, he smirked when he spotted a small group of wild animals—they looked like tiny rabbits with fox tails and cat ears—skitter away in the distance. It was another reason he loved going to planets like this. Part of him wanted to ask Ignis to stop so that he could get a picture, but the rest of him knew that Ravus would be judging every single bit of this mission. Including how long it took them to complete it.

So, rather than allowing himself to focus on the animals, he shook his head sharply and tried to focus on the mission. Nyx looked at a couple of readings on his omni-tool, and scratched his head. "It's weird. This isn't a distress signal. It's not in Morse code, there's no voice or anything. I don't think it's Alliance, either. At least it's no form of Alliance code I've ever heard before."

The beeping emanating from Nyx's omni-tool caught Gladio's attention, and he shook his head. "It's close to Alliance, though. Close enough to fool anyone who's not paying close attention, or who doesn't know enough about Alliance protocol." He paused and listened for another beep to come from Nyx's omni-tool. "It's about a split-second beep off from being a distress call. Hear that?" he asked.

Noctis nodded. "And the one before that is _almost_ an SOS. But not quite." He raised a finger, making a point.

"The very limited reports that Captain Tummelt gave us said much the same thing," Ignis explained. "All of the signals are a beep or a flick off from actually meaning anything. Perhaps it's some kind of mercenary code or someone using something so close to Morse code with the exact intent to get Alliance attention. I scanned as many databases as I could, though, and couldn't manage to find anything quite like it."

Prompto knew it was bad when Ignis couldn't find the information that they needed. Raking his teeth on his lip, he asked, "you think it's one of those groups that, you know... _used_ to be Alliance but changed allegiance? I dunno what they're called, but I know that there's a ton of them out there." Sometimes, he hated being one of the less trained, less intelligent members of the group. If he knew a little bit more, maybe he'd have been able to find the answer they needed.

When no one said anything right away, Prompto raked his teeth over his lip and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. Before he could apologize, though, Nyx's voice filled the tank. "A splinter group. Didn't think of that," he murmured.

"Why didn't we think of that again?" Gladio asked. "There's a hell of a lot of splinter groups. A whole bunch of merc groups started out as Alliance but then went rogue. And there's a whole bunch of idiots who don't like that we're starting to ally more and more with the other council races, too." As he spoke, Prompto noticed that his lip was curling in annoyance. "Plus, there's Cerberus."

Cerberus. Prompto went quiet, thinking back to all of the information they'd gotten back on Chaos before things went to hell. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, his armor clacking together as he moved. Noctis glanced over at him, and the pair of them exchanged a moment of silent communication. There was a question in Noctis' eyes, and even without his best friend asking, Prompto knew what it was. Noctis was wondering if he would be okay. Granted he wasn't exactly _thrilled_ about having to deal with Cerberus again, he was okay. He wasn't a scared little kid anymore. He was stronger than he used to be. So, was he okay?

In lieu of a verbal response, he gave Noctis a tiny smile, reassuring his best friend that everything was fine. As fine as he could be, anyway.

Prompto pulled in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, before a sudden and sharp turn almost knocked him into the wall of the tank. And then, up the hill they went. Inertia kept him pinned to the back of the seat, but he tilted his head sideways all the same, trying to get a look out the window. The dark blue sky, spotted with stars and shrouded in the yellow rings that surrounded the planet, brought the tiniest smile to his face. He made a note to get a couple shots of the sky when they stopped again.

Once they got to the top of the hill, Ignis slowed the Mako to a stop. Prompto looked around at the holographic display of the area outside the tank. Down the steep decline, there was a wide open space that had Prompto wondering why they hadn't tried to land there to begin with. He supposed that it was tough sometimes, controlling where the tank landed once it left the ship. But it didn't matter. They were there now, and as Ignis started driving again, he turned and said, "hold on. This is going to be a little bit rough."

He wasn't kidding.

For a second, though Ignis started driving slowly, the tank left the ground. They hit the ground sort of hard, and Prompto found himself thrown across Noctis' lap. Prompto pushed himself back up into his seat, smiling an apologetic and sheepish smile at his friend. Raking his teeth over his lower lip once he looked back toward the front of the tank, he found his mind wandering back to their moment the other day. He had _almost_ screwed up and kissed Noctis, after Noctis caught him from his little wobbling slip. Had Noctis held onto him for another second, he might've screwed up and done it. But he managed not to.

As much as he knew that it was better this way, sometimes it was hard to convince himself. Like, when Noctis looked at him with that soft look in his eyes, and when Noctis' face was right up close to his... He gave himself a mental slap. This wasn't the time. The moment he let himself get too distracted by these stupid feelings to deal with field missions, was the moment that it went too far. Although, right now, the distraction wasn't so bad. Because, by the time they evened out again, Prompto realized that he'd zoned out for the whole ride down the decline. Prompto caught Noctis looking sidelong at him, and laughed a sheepish and silent laugh. He wet his lips and shook his head dismissively, trying to relax as Ignis started driving again. 

"Signal's jammed," Nyx pointed out. "What's the point of having a biometric scanner if it keeps getting jammed every time you turn around?" he asked in sarcastic frustration.

Ignis glanced at Nyx. "It was about a thousand feet this way, though. If you want to take the wheel, I can try and hack through the jam," he suggested, enabling the copilot's steering controls.

"Sure, give the captain the controls on the straightaways. I'd be offended if you weren't the best driver in the Alliance," Nyx joked, as he continued driving toward the source of the signal when they landed. "Best driver, best hacker, best strategist... maybe I should step down as captain and let you take over."

Laughing, Ignis shook his head no. "No thank you. I think I'll stick with supporting you and Noct," he murmured, tapping the heat sensor on his glasses again.

Noctis chuckled from beside Prompto. "You think it's weird that someone who would rather follow than lead is sitting in _front_ of the tank, while the XO is sitting in the back?" he asked, his voice a half-complaint as he nudged Prompto in the ribs with an armored elbow.

But Prompto shook his head no. "Not even remotely, actually. Because whenever _you_ drive the tank, it's almost as bad as me driving it." He shouldered against Noctis' shoulder, flashing him a wry grin.

"No chance," Noctis retorted. "I've never flipped-"

Prompto cut Noctis off with a grunt of exaggerated frustration. "Can you drop that? It was an accident," he muttered.

"Flirt later, you two," Nyx teased from the front seat, which silenced all of the laughter and shoving from the back seat of the tank. "The beacon's right there. I'm gonna bring us in closer."

Prompto wasn't sure why he didn't correct Nyx, but for some reason or another, _Noctis_ hadn't corrected him either. He glanced down at his armored hands for a moment, then back up at the holographic window display as they approached the beacon. Nyx teased him all the time, but he'd never actually teased him in _front_ of Noctis before. Embarrassment flooded Prompto's features, but before he even had a chance to process any kind of response, the Mako slowed to a stop, and Nyx was directing them all to get out.

"Can't scan the beacon from in here if the systems are jammed, so the most we can do is go up to it and get a closer look. Use an omni-tool to scan in manually."

After Nyx's command, they each climbed out of the Mako one by one, Prompto pulling up the rear of the pack. His boots hit the ground, and he looked around, smiling at the _actual_ view of the planet. The breathable atmosphere allowed him to glance around without a helmet obstructing his view, and he called up his drone to take a couple of shots. The sky was like something from a vid, the yellow of the rings offsetting the dark blue of the sky itself, and he sent his drone up as high as it would go, snapping some shots of the whole area around them.

His drone returned, and he called it back, rushing up behind the rest of the team, who were already almost to the beacon. He made it three steps, before the whole ground—literally the _whole_ ground—started shaking. Prompto's eyes widened as he looked around. "What the hell was _that_?" he asked.

The ground quivered again, almost sending Prompto toppling over, but he managed to keep his footing somehow. From ahead of him, though, he noticed that Noctis wasn't quite so lucky. Gladio reached down to help him up, and Prompto hurried up to close the distance between himself and the group. As soon as he arrived, he realized _exactly_ why the ground was shaking.

From the ground emerged a giant worm, all gaping jaws and hissing feelers. Prompto had never seen a thresher maw up close before. Most soldiers went through their whole careers _without_ seeing one, in fact. He'd seen them in action vids before, and once in the Alliance training vid he'd watched when learning special operations protocol... but seeing one up close and personal, right in front of him, was a very different situation. It was huge. Way, way bigger than Prompto expected it to be. Taller than some of the buildings on the Citadel and wider than the Regalia. Its eyes—more like sensors—shone like bright neon beacons, as did its feelers. And it was _terrifying_.

The screech that cut out through the air when the worm emerged, shook Prompto to his very core. "A _thresher maw_?!" he cried out, while the worm dove toward them and down into the ground.

"Guarding the beacon. Of course," Nyx seethed. "Spread out. There's not much cover so _keep moving_." And without another word, the captain went into stealth, likely to find a safe and distant spot to snipe from.

The remaining four crew members did as they were told and spread out. Prompto put his helmet on and called his drone out, setting it to rocket mode instead of overload mode, and sending it high into the air, beyond the worm's reach. He watched as the worm re-emerged from the sand, and spat a stream of acid toward Gladio, who dove to the ground and started firing from where he lay as he scrambled back to his feet. Ignis caught sight of this and quickly shot out a stasis field, catching the worm inside of it. It froze in place, and Noctis took the chance to surge forward and strike the creature with a biotic charge. The worm was still frozen, even after the echoed crack of biotic impact finished echoing through the air, but Noctis couldn't put distance between them quickly enough. By the time the stasis field broke, Noctis was still too close.

"Noct, look out!" Prompto called out, watching as his friend dove out of the way to dodge the worm as it dove underground again. It was too close, and the shaking of the rubble on the ground suggested that the creature was following Noctis' steps now. Thinking quickly when the rubble's movement stopped _right beneath Noctis' feet_ , Prompto charged up a throw and released it _directly_ at Noctis.

Risky, maybe, but it did the job. It impacted with a gentle biotic twang, and sent Noctis soaring back about ten feet and away from where the worm came up from the ground. Ignis threw out another stasis field to allow Noctis more time to escape, and that was when the sniper fire started from the distance. Nyx had found a safe spot. An incinerate blast came from the same direction, and Prompto added a reave to the mix.

The relaxation that Prompto felt when Noctis was a safe distance from the creature only lasted for a brief moment, before the worm spat out another puddle of toxic spit toward Prompto. He dove out of the way, hitting the ground a little harder than he'd intended to, but stood up and fired a couple of pistol rounds toward the creature's eyes.

"You okay, Prom?" came over his suit's intercom. Noctis.

Prompto laughed softly; a humorless note over the fact that somehow, despite the fact that it had been _Noctis_ who'd almost been worm food, he was worried about Prompto. "Fine," he answered. "You?"

After a beat, Noctis answered, "yeah. Fine." And then two seconds later, he saw a myriad of biotically charged machine gun rounds coming from where Noctis stood, aiming at the creature.

Gladio and Ignis, too, fired everything they had. But the worm was still standing. Prompto pulled in a deep breath and thought back to what Gentiana had taught him. Focus his energy. Through his body, to his shoulders, and then down into his fingertips. Out of both of his hands came the strongest pair of warp fields that he'd _ever_ let go. They were so strong, in fact, that they made the worm recoil where it towered, baring menacingly down on Ignis like it was getting ready to strike again. A sniper bullet from Nyx right in its eye, and the worm was falling to the ground with an ungodly screech.

The whole area shook with the force of the creature tumbling to the ground, and Prompto ended up unable to stay standing alongside it. He didn't faint, not this time, but the tremor that the falling monstrosity shot through the ground had him unable to stay on his feet. Fortunately, he picked himself up from the ground quickly.

Before he could ask, Nyx's voice came through his suit's communicator. "Everyone in one piece?"

Prompto heard Noctis' voice through the intercom next, "yeah. Yeah, I think we're good." He turned to look at the rest of the team, who were similarly shaken. "We're good, right guys?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Ignis responded.

Gladio answered, "Yeah, all systems go."

After a beat, Prompto realized that everyone was at least a _little_ bit shaken up, so he calmed his own frayed nerves and pointed out something that he felt like the whole team needed to know: "you guys! All systems go? Good? Affirmative?" he asked, laughing into the intercom. "We just took out a _thresher maw_! We're _better_ than good! We're _awesome_!"

Four different laughing voices came in response to his comment, and he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride in the fact that he'd managed to calm everyone to the point that they'd laughed again. Gentiana's comment that he was the heart, the spirit, entered his mind, and he couldn't help but smirk a little bit wider. The heart of the team. Maybe they _did_ need him.

Nyx asked the team to wait for him to rejoin them before approaching the beacon, and while they waited, Noctis rushed up to Prompto and gripped his armored shoulder with an armored hand. "Thanks for throwing me out of the way, by the way. Can't imagine it would've been too fun being worm food." His hand stayed in place, and even though there were two layers of armor separating Noctis' skin from his, he could almost feel the familiarity of the grasp touching him.

"Yeah, well," Prompto replied with a little smile, "couldn't very well let the worm eat you. Much as I'm sure you wanted to explore the inside of its stomach, the Regalia'd kinda suck without you on it."

Noctis chuckled softly and pulled Prompto into a gentle hug. "Don't want you to have to find out how you'd do without me, right?" he joked.

With a laugh, Prompto nodded his head yes. "Bet I'd do even worse than you did," he muttered, raking his teeth across his lip, glad all of a sudden that Noctis couldn't see his face while they hugged.

Over Noctis' shoulder, he spotted Gladio approaching. Through his helmet, Prompto could see the smirk on the Big Guy's face. "Swear to god, Iggy, we can't leave these kids alone for five minutes without them feeling each other up," he commented, smirking while completely contradicting his point and sliding an arm around Ignis' waist and pulling him closer.

"Come, Gladio," Ignis mused, a fond chuckle on his lips. "One of these days you have to stop interrupting their private conversations."

Noctis let go of Prompto and stepped back from one another like they were both on fire. "We weren't _feeling each other up_ , Gladio! We were hugging. He saved my life, in case you missed it," Noctis pointed out, and his bratty tone made Prompto smirk in spite of himself.

"I noticed," Gladio mused, clapping Prompto on the shoulder. "How're you feelin'? Any signs of headache or anything?" he asked.

Prompto shook his head no. "None. Feeling pretty stoked that we just took out a freakin' _thresher maw_ and I got it all on my drone, if that counts for anything?" he asked, smirking up at Gladio.

A laugh echoed out around them when Nyx reached the group, and he clapped Prompto on the shoulder in celebration. "Leave it to you to get the whole thing on camera. Good, though. The rest of the team'll want to see it. Except I'm pretty sure Luna will be more horrified than anything," he added the last part under his breath.

Ignis chuckled. "Perhaps we'd be better off saving that video for Aranea and Cindy, then. Because I'd wager that Iris would be equally worried." He turned his attention to Gladio. "She tends to worry about us a lot more than she needs to."

Gladio's responding shrug was a lot more bashful than Prompto was used to seeing him give, but he nodded his agreement. "Yeah, probably," he mused.

"Command will probably want to see it, too," Noctis suggested. "This is the most intel we've ever had on any planet in this system. That there are threshers here. And I imagine the camera got a good view of the planetary conditions, too."

When Prompto turned back to look at Nyx, he noticed that the captain's head was turned toward the beacon again. "Ignis, have you managed to break the jammer yet?" he asked, then beckoned for the rest of the team to follow him toward the beacon. "Because I have a theory." He took his sniper rifle out and used it to get a closer look at the beacon from a distance.

The group of them started toward the beacon, and Ignis tapped on the frame of his glasses. "I was almost there when the thresher maw showed up," he explained. "I suspect I have an inkling in regards to your theory, though. Are you under the impression that the beacon _is_ the jammer? Because my scanners are telling me that we're quite close to the jam, and that it's coming from the direction that the beacon is located."

"That was the theory," Nyx confessed. "Might be quicker to go for the beacon than to wait for you to crack it."

The five of them agreed with Nyx's assessment, and followed behind him, up to the large beacon. Once they arrived, Ignis and Nyx immediately set to work trying to decode it, and Noctis and Gladio set to work examining it and calling Prompto's attention to have his drone get snapshots when they found anything interesting. So far, it hadn't been much. The beacon was long. About ten feet in length and three wide. There weren't any real distinguishing marks on it or anything, anything at all that could tell them exactly where the beacon had come from or who had sent it.

However, one thing _did_ catch his eye. He barely noticed it first, while he examined a small hatch at the top of the beacon. But when it caught the corner of his eye, he did a double take. On the hatch was a small, metal valve, and on the valve was a familiar logo; a logo that made Prompto's blood run cold. His mind flashed back to Garuda, when the armored men had taken his mother away. The small yellow logo on their armor; on their shuttles. On all of the equipment that he'd been hooked up to for the next five years.

"Guys?" Prompto called out. "The beacon... it's Cerberus."


	13. Evaluate

Noctis wasn't sure what he hated more; having a Cerberus probe on the ship, or the knowledge that somewhere on the ship, Ravus was examining every little detail with painful intricacy, just _searching_ for something to write up. He'd forced them outside of their own ship, to wait in the docking bay at Alliance Command on Eos, until he'd finished his appraisal. Noctis was... well, _angry_ didn't seem like a strong enough word to describe how he felt about the situation.

Between the revelation that they were to store the probe so that Ignis and Nyx—two of the best hackers in the Alliance—could try and crack the code, despite the fact that it was a _Cerberus_ probe of _unknown origin_ ; and the fact that they had absolutely _no idea_ what Ravus and Loqi were doing on board their ship? No one was really at ease. Nyx felt unsettled, too. Maybe it was because _Luna_ looked unsettled. Her own brother unsettled her this much. It was devastating, and no matter how Nyx and Iris tried to comfort her, there was no calming her down. It wasn't that she was sad, or even _angry_ really, it didn't seem. Just unsettled.

Prompto sat on a railing, looking up at the bright blue midday sky through the see-through tunnel, and puffed a breath through his lips. "I really don't wanna keep that probe on the ship," he intoned to Noctis, who was sitting on the steps beneath him.

It wasn't the first time he'd said as much. Around the others, though, it was always some kind of jokey comment about how he thought it was going to blow up spontaneously or how it wouldn't surprise him if the thing sprouted eight spider legs and started walking around the ship like it owned the place. Jokes, offhand comments to cut his actual, _real_ worries about the mystery of what was going on inside that thing. They were all worried. The fact that Ignis and Nyx _combined_ couldn't even seem to crack the encryption was unsettling. Of everyone, though, Prompto had the closest tie to Cerberus. He had the most to fear with their return.

That was why the fact that all of that bustle and confidence was hiding a layer of real fear wasn't a surprise to Noctis at all. "I don't either," he agreed, craning his head to look up at Prompto. "But I don't think anyone can do anything. We go over their heads to my dad or Gladio's dad, and Ravus just gets madder. Next thing we know, he's sending us to a planet that he _knows_ has forty thresher maws on it."

Leaning forward, Prompto frowned. "I know," he admitted. "I just... if something is so heavily encrypted by Cerberus, then it's obviously bad, right? So... why would anyone in the Alliance want us to keep a Cerberus probe on our ship? For _any_ reason?" He shook his head sharply.

"Specs and the Captain will get it figured out in no time, Prom," Noctis assured him, standing from the stairs to lean against the railing with him. "And then once they do, we'll get it the hell off our ship."

Prompto nodded, though he didn't look certain at all. And he still looked a bit sad, too. "Guess that means we'll be dealing with Cerberus again, huh?" he asked, casting a sidelong glance toward Noctis and scratching a hand through his hair. "Wonder how your dad feels. Knowing that they're back out there again, I mean." He looked at Noctis expectantly.

The question drew a bitter chuckle up from Noctis' lungs, and he shook his head. "He's not happy about it. Like, he was always aware that it was a possibility when the leader escaped back then. But at the same time, I don't think he actually did. I think he thought they scared him into the corner, that he'd never come back, I guess. But..."

"People like that always come back," Prompto murmured glumly.

Noctis' brows drew together, and he placed a hand on Prompto's shoulder. His grip was tight but tender, and when violet blue eyes turned to look at his, he managed a weak smile. "You're not a kid anymore, Prom," he promised. "And they're not gonna hurt you." Not if Noctis had anything to say about it. He'd sooner burn every Cerberus facility to the ground on his own before he'd ever let them get their hands on Prompto again. "If anything, _they_ should be worried about _you_ hurting _them_. Do I need to remind you who warped that maw so hard that it recoiled?"`

A tiny little grin crossed Prompto's face, and in a bashful voice, he muttered, "you can't bring that up every time I get all down and mopey, Noct. It doesn't work like that." His eyes were still on Noctis, though, and his smirk grew even wider.

"What, you're meaning to tell me that you _don't_ think it was awesome? Because it was." Noctis finally moved his hand from Prompto's shoulder and smoothed a couple of wrinkles from Prompto's Alliance blues. He looked so good in them. They were darker than his eyes, but that dark blue made the brightness of Prompto's eyes stick out more. And the gold trim almost matched his hair. When he brushed a wrinkle from Prompto's chest, his hand lingered for a couple of seconds too long, and he yanked it back when he realized what he was doing. "S-sorry..." he murmured.

"It's, um... it's okay," Prompto answered, turning his head to glance down at his uniform. "Guess I should've ironed it. Last thing I want is to be the reason Ravus flips out on us, right?" Unless Noctis was imagining things, there was a tiny bit of pink dusting his cheeks. But Noctis _had_ to be imagining things, because there was no reason for that at all.

Shrugging a lip, Noctis straightened his own uniform. "I mean, I'm sure he and Loqi are flipping out in there already. You know, talking about how the galaxy map isn't galaxy enough or how there isn't enough cargo in the cargo hold." He couldn't stop the little smile from creeping its way into his features.

And it only grew when Prompto nodded eagerly in response. "What do you want to bet they find issue with our sleeping arrangements, too? Like... how the cargo bay is for _cargo_ , not beds, even though Iggy and Gladio have been there since forever. Or how it's not appropriate for me to crash on the couch in your room even though it doesn't bother anyone on the ship." He breathed a chuckle through his nose and shrugged a shoulder. Lowering his voice to match Ravus' tone and timbre, he continued. "It's insubordination for an ensign to sleep in the XO's quarters, blah blah..." He continued, mocking Ravus' demeanor by clapping his hand as if it was a talking mouth.

Noctis laughed and shoved Prompto's shoulder gently. "Let him say whatever he wants. Literally everyone in the Alliance knows that Gladio and Specs are together. And Luna and Nyx-" He stopped short. "A-and it's not like we're even doing anything like that in there! So, uh... so... l-let 'em say what they wanna say. You know? They can't do anything without clearing it with my dad."

Years. _Years_ he had coped with this crush without an issue. Years, he'd been able to ignore it and pretend that his mind didn't wander back to Prompto in quiet moments. For years, he'd been able to play it cool. But lately, every single time he accidentally thought of a situation that could sound... that way, his mind went and took it to the extreme. He pressed his lips together and tried to shake off the embarrassment, daring himself to turn and look back over at Prompto.

"We're good," Noctis insisted. "There's nothing in there they can use as a strike against us. It met _Specs'_ standards. That's gotta be good enough."

Prompto laughed softly, nodding his head and nudging Noctis with his shoulder. "You're right. You're totally right. I don't know why I'm so out of it today. It's not like it's the first time the ship's been inspected, and it won't be the last. We'll pass this one, just like we passed the others, just like we'll pass every other one from here." He hopped down from the railing and patted Noctis on the arm. "C'mon," he encouraged.

"Where're we going?" Noctis asked, pushing himself off from where he'd been leaning and brushing some dust off the bottom of his shirt.

With a hand on Noctis' shoulder, Prompto urged him down the hall. "Cafeteria. If they're gonna wait a hundred million years and check out the ship, the least we can do is get a-"

Before Prompto could finish his sentence, though, he crashed _directly_ into Ravus, who was walking with a vengeance to get to where the crew was waiting for them to finish. "Where do you think you're going, Argentum?" he asked, bearing menacingly down on Prompto, a cheap intimidation tactic.

It worked, though. Prompto dropped his hand from Noctis' shoulder. "I, um... we were just-"

"I suggested that we go get some lunch while we wait for you to finish your inspection, sir." Noctis covered for Prompto, lying outright, then blinked when Ravus looked at him expectantly. A few seconds passed, and Noctis realized that he was waiting for a salute. He made a show of giving one, so that Prompto would get the hint and do it, too. Which he did.

Ravus huffed in annoyance. "I believe I told you all to wait in the vicinity, did I not? No one dismissed you yet. Argentum. Go and get the rest of the crew and tell them to assemble on the CIC so that I can address you all." He pointed over his shoulder and demanded that Prompto leave.

He did, but not without casting an apologetic look at Noctis over his shoulder. And as he retreated, Ravus' lapdog—a spoiled rotten Alliance captain by the name of Loqi Tummelt—looked at Prompto like he was nothing but dirt on the bottom of his shoe. Loqi's eyes followed an uneasy Prompto as he retreated around the corner, and when Noctis finally tore his eyes from the taciturn blond, he noticed Ravus eyeing him expectantly.

It was difficult for Noctis to keep the irritation from his voice when he spoke. "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?" he asked.

"I believe you remember my XO, Captain Loqi Tummelt, yes?" Ravus questioned. Though the way he said it wasn't quite a question. More of a formality.

Noctis' eyes went over to Loqi, and he nodded his acknowledgment. "I do. Hello, Loqi-"

"Captain Tummelt," Loqi corrected. "I'm still your superior."

Arching an eyebrow, Noctis corrected, "superior _officer_ ," not threatened by Loqi in the least.

Ravus' lip twitched up into a cocky half-smile. "Yes, well. Six in one hand. As I was saying," he affirmed, "he'd like you to send him all of the intel you've found on Cerberus. It was all on the ship, but it was on your computer, with some kind of encryption that we couldn't find the passkey to. There needs to be nothing on that ship that we don't have access to."

There was something about this that felt off to Noctis. He knew, of course, that it was Alliance protocol to give files to superiors. It wasn't like there was anything irregular about that. Still, wasn't this something that they could have asked Nyx? And didn't it make more sense—wasn't it closer to proper protocol—for him to send it to Ravus than to Loqi, since Ravus was the true commanding officer? Still, orders from an Admiral, from a man of Ravus' position, weren't to be disobeyed. Noctis was in a very awkward position, and he couldn't come up with the 'right thing to do' right away.

"Your commanding officer gave you an order, Caelum," Loqi commanded from behind Ravus.

Noctis turned to look at him, then. It wasn't as though it was the first time Noctis had ever _seen_ Loqi or anything. It _was_ , however, the first time they'd ever actually been face to face. Noctis had always thought that maybe he looked a little bit like Prompto. Much like Verstael when they'd met on Chaos, he had similar eyes, a similar face... but there was something very important missing. That light—that spark—wasn't there. They looked similar, but not the same. Noctis examined him closely for a moment, still not answering or obeying the order.

Ravus, however, leaned closer to his face and snapped, "Caelum! I _gave_ you an _order_."

Without much choice, Noctis barely bit back an annoyed sigh. "Yes, sir. I'll do that as soon as I get back on b-"

"Now, please," Loqi commanded. "I'm assuming your omni-tool is advanced enough to access your computer from here. Given that your father always ensures that you have the finest toys out there. Call it up and send it to me." He motioned to Noctis' hand, wordlessly commanding him to call up his omni-tool.

It still didn't settle right in Noctis' stomach, but they were still commanding officers, and he didn't really have much choice. So, with a grimace on his face, he brought his hand down from attention and called his omni-tool up. Loqi called his up as well, likely impatiently waiting for Noctis' message. Though the sly and oily smile on his face was enough to make Noctis wary as he remotely accessed his computer on the ship. Accessing the files on Cerberus, he gathered them all together and transferred them over to Loqi, who—after a couple of omni-tool button presses—merely smiled wryly at Noctis as he released his omni-tool.

As unsettling as it was, as _weird_ as it was, he turned his eyes to Ravus, who smirked and said, "was that so hard?"

Noctis didn't answer, wondering if he'd made a mistake somehow, but what choice did he have, really? "You said you had an inspection report ready... sir?" he asked instead, standing at attention again with his hands behind his back.

"I've one concern," Ravus explained, "but I'll address you with the rest of the crew. Now, go and join them in the CIC."

Unease settled even further through Noctis' stomach—and the rest of him as well—as he obeyed. He glanced over his shoulder toward Ravus and Loqi as he retreated, watching as the pair of them exchanged a smile, and Loqi patted Ravus on the back. Raking his teeth over his lip as he turned the corner, Noctis resolved to deliver the news to Nyx as soon as he got to the CIC. Onto the ship he went, looking around in painstaking detail as he passed through the decontamination chamber—like he honestly expected them to have changed anything in there. There wasn't much that could be changed, he supposed, but he still found himself worried.

When he got to the CIC, the first head to turn toward him was Prompto. He glanced away from his conversation with Iris, Cindy, and Aranea, regarding Noctis with concern. Noctis held his index finger up, wordlessly telling Prompto that he'd be right there. Instead, he hurried up to Nyx, who was standing next to Luna with a comforting hand on her shoulder. She wasn't angry, just visibly uncomfortable.

"There you are," Nyx announced. "When Prompto came to get us and you-"

Noctis held his hand up and shook his head no, then met Nyx's eyes. "Something weird happened."

But before Noctis could even start talking to explain what happened, the decontamination bay doors opened and closed again, and in marched Ravus and Loqi, the same old scowls on their faces again as they regarded the crew. Ravus turned to look at Luna as every Alliance body went to attention, and there was a momentary flash of vulnerability in his expression. Just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone as he looked out across the rest of the crew and started to pace across the CIC.

"I must say," Ravus began. "I half expected to board the ship and have a whole notebook worth of concerns to bring up to Ambassador Caelum and Admiral Amicitia, but I was quite pleased when I could find only one." He stopped in front of Prompto where he stood at the end of the line of soldiers for a moment, flashed him a mocking smile, then turned to Loqi with a knowing grin. Turning on his heel again, he started down the line the other way. "But you run a rather tight ship, Captain Ulric." He glanced at Nyx with a tight-lipped expression.

Noctis could almost identify the moment when he spotted Luna in his periphery, because that same flash of vulnerability crossed his face. Once again, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. "Well-maintained engines, no real security risks... well, except for _one_."

"One, sir?" Nyx asked in surprise.

Ravus hummed his acknowledgment. "Indeed," he answered. "Your ship is home to a piece of defective Cerberus equipment. It concerns me."

A couple beats of silence, and Nyx arched an eyebrow. Other than that quick facial twitch, though, he gave no indication that he was confused. "The beacon? You were the one who ordered us to-"

Before he could finish, Ravus cut him off with a shake of his head. "Not the beacon." He reached Prompto's end of the line again and stopped in front of him.

Ignis was the first one to catch on. His expression, usually trained carefully and stone serious when he was in the face of a superior officer, fell, and he fell out of attention, turning his head to glance over at Prompto. Noctis, too, fell out of attention and turned to look at Prompto... who was struggling to stay at attention, but blinking back surprise and emotion all the same.

"Beg pardon?" Nyx pressed. But when Ravus didn't show signs of answering, Nyx quickly added, "sir?"

Not moving from in front of Prompto, Ravus shrugged his shoulder. "I read the reports about the Chaos mission. Of the situation regarding Captain Leonis' passing." He turned to look at Prompto. "Would you care to recount that situation to us, Ensign Argentum?" With a casual demeanor, he eyed Prompto expectantly.

Noctis, though, wasn't going to let this stand. Prompto was _just starting_ to move on, to be able to go through whole days without thinking about what happened to Cor. There was _no way_ that he was just going to stand idly by and let Ravus peel back at the scar tissue on that old wound and made Prompto go through it all over again. "I don't think that's-"

"He didn't ask you, Caelum," Loqi spoke up from where he leaned against a couple of the consoles surrounding the CIC.

Ravus nodded his agreement. "Indeed. I was speaking to Ensign Argentum." Harsh eyes—one brown and one blue—bared down on Prompto in expectant silence.

After pulling in a shaky breath, Prompto answered him. "I... I passed out. C-Cor died protecting me. Making sure that I didn't die." There was obvious distress in his expression, and it was _very_ clear that he was trying to hold back tears. His eyes didn't shine or anything, but Noctis could see it as clear as the freckles on his skin. Noctis' fists clenched angrily at his sides.

From where he stood, Loqi snorted a laugh. "Shame that Cor the Immortal had to lose his life for this walking malfunction of an adept," he commented, a malicious twinkle in his eye.

Prompto recoiled like he'd been slapped by the words, and Noctis felt his arms shaking with barely-controlled fury. He moved to take a step forward, but Nyx stopped him by reaching an arm out and placing it on his chest. He took a step forward instead and narrowed his eyes at Loqi. "You may be Admiral Nox Fleuret's XO, but that doesn't give you the right to come on my ship and disrespect my crew, Captain Tummelt. I'm wondering, actually, if you have permission from Admiral Amicitia to be here."

To Noctis' left, Ignis spoke up too. "That aside, it's a breach of Alliance protocol for you to berate him like that, too, Admiral Nox Fleuret. Ambassador Caelum and Admiral Amicitia clearly saw fit to allow Prompto back on the ship after the incident took place, and Prompto took measures to ensure that it didn't happen again." He stayed at attention, didn't falter in the slightest.

"Perhaps. But that doesn't change that I will be keeping my eye on him from this point on. I order you to undergo physical examinations every single shore leave, Ensign. And I will be checking in every week with Lunafreya-"

Luna spoke up this time. "That won't be necessary. Prompto is in peak physical condition, Ravus. This attack is little more than a way for you to find _some_ flaw on this ship, and if you don't cease at once, I will report you to Alliance Command myself," she insisted, her voice sad but angry at the same time, as she looked over at Prompto in what she hoped was reassurance.

Noctis was still shaking with anger, but Nyx had let go of him now. His hands were clenched tightly at his sides, and one of his fingernails punctured through the skin, but he didn't care. All he wanted—literally _all_ he wanted in the entire universe—was to physically throw Ravus off the ship. He almost felt like the consequences would be worth it. It took all he had to keep from doing so for the rest of the meeting, where Ravus reiterated his demands of Prompto. Weekly physical examinations to ensure that he wasn't "breaking any further, and endangering anyone else on the ship," and another examination of his Cerberus implants, to ensure that they weren't "spyware of some sort."

Each accusation, each demand, saw Noctis getting angrier, and by the time Ravus left the ship with a smug smile on his face, Noctis wasn't sure he had ever been this angry before.

That anger melted away into sadness, though, when Prompto refused to allow anyone to talk to him and rushed to the elevator to get to a lower level of the ship. Luna and Ignis turned toward Noctis, and Nyx pushed him from behind, wordlessly suggesting that he follow. They were right. They were _absolutely_ right.

"Call my dad," he told Nyx. "Tell him about this."

And without even waiting for a reply, Noctis hurried into the elevator as soon as it opened. He knew exactly where Prompto had gone, and he'd be damned if he was going to let Prompto deal with this alone.


	14. Spark

_Walking malfunction of an adept._

The words replayed in Prompto's mind as he threw himself into a seated position on the couch in the port observatory. _Cerberus equipment. Break more and endanger the rest of the crew. Spyware._ Prompto stared at the metallic floor of the observation deck and shook his head. He was better. Not perfect—not even _close_ to perfect—but better. But to Ravus and Loqi and all of the people on _their_ crew, it would never be enough. _Walking malfunction of an adept_ sprang into his mind again, and he ran his hands through his hair. No matter how much stronger he got, there were people out there who would always see him as a walking malfunction. No matter who vouched for his reliability, there were always people out there who would see his Cerberus tech as a threat.

Cindy had encrypted it. Made it unhackable, with a code that only she knew. But that didn't matter.

The worst part of it was the fact that some part of Prompto _understood_. He had _Cerberus tech_ inside of him. For someone who mistrusted Cerberus as much as he did, it was a wonder that he didn't mistrust himself more. It wasn't like he had a hundred percent trust in himself all the time as it was, but the crew's refusal to mistrust him because of the Cerberus tech—alongside the fact that Luna and Cindy had gone to great lengths to ensure that all of the dangerous parts of the Cerberus tech were inactive—allowed him to forget that it was there most of the time. Cindy was the best engineer the Alliance had. He trusted her word.

No matter how much he allowed himself to forget, not to think about it, there was always something that came along sometime to remind him. It wasn't necessarily the probe, though the fact that it was still sitting there, in his home, taunting him, wasn't helping matters. But being called a walking malfunction, being marked as a risk for spyware... it hurt.

It hurt a lot. Before Prompto could stop himself, he'd blinked hard and tears started rolling from the corners of his eyes. He raised his hand, wiping them away and willing himself to stop. It wasn't like it was anyone important. It was just Loqi and Ravus. They didn't matter. They couldn't remove him from the ship without permission from Admiral Amicitia or Ambassador Caelum, and unless Prompto made some _major_ malfunction that risked the rest of the crew... they wouldn't do that. That still didn't change the fact that Ravus was a commanding officer. That he'd be keeping his eye on Prompto now.

Prompto blinked again, trying to stave off more tears, before pulling his legs up, resting his feet on the edge of his seat and hugging his knees to his chest. He pulled in a shaky breath and tried to stop the words from replaying in his head. _Walking malfunction of an adept. Cerberus equipment. Break more and endanger the rest of the crew. Spyware._

The door opened behind him, and he didn't even need to look to see who was there. He didn't lift his head, didn't relax his posture, because around Noctis he didn't _have_ to. Instead, he just buried his head in his knees and shrunk down a little bit smaller. Just because Noctis had seen him like this more times than was fair for _anyone_ to have seen, didn't mean that he liked it. He didn't. Not even a little. Noctis already had enough going on without Prompto adding his problems onto it. He raised his head against his will and looked into—not out of—the observation deck window, spotting Noctis in the reflection behind him.

When their eyes met, Noctis crossed the room and crouched down on the floor in front of Prompto. From this close, he could smell Noctis' cologne, his shampoo, and the slightest hint of his breath. There was a momentary flash of concern when he picked up the slightest waft of that fruity asari liquor that Gentiana had given the crew. It wasn't the first time that he'd smelled that on Noctis' breath recently, honestly, and it concerned him a little bit, but before he got the chance, Noctis spoke up and caught his attention.

"You know Ravus is full of shit, right?" Noctis asked him, shoving Prompto in the knee with two fingers. "That literally none of us think that about you?" 

Prompto rested his chin on his knees and shrugged. "I know," he admitted, meeting Noctis' eyes with a halfhearted smile. "But he does. They do. Sometimes _I_ still do. Maybe not the Cerberus part, or the spyware part. I know Cindy wouldn't lie about Cerberus equipment. Especially not after what happened to her folks..." He trailed off.

Noctis picked up for him, though. "And there is _no way_ you're a danger to us. Especially not now."

Shrugging his head to the side, he met Noctis' eyes and murmured, "I mean, he's not full of shit about one thing. I _do_ have Cerberus tech inside of me. My joints." He bent his elbow, raised his arm up and over his head and bending his shoulder back like no one else on the crew could. "My spine. My biotic implants are even Cerberus tech. What if they try and hack me? What if we're dealing with them and they just... hack me someday? Or what if that's what that probe was for, or-"

Noctis shook his head vehemently, putting a hand on each of Prompto's knees and pushing himself so that he was standing. He sat next to Prompto on the couch—close enough that Prompto could feel the warmth of his body through his Alliance blues—and spoke up again. "Cindy encrypted all of that. There is _no way_ that they can get through." His words didn't even hold a _trace_ of uncertainty. "She used an encryption that the Alliance doesn't even have access to. She's literally the only one who knows how to access it, so unless Cindy decides to go mental and hack you to kill us all? There is _no way_ that Cerberus can hack you." He wrapped his arm around Prompto's shoulders and flashed an attempt at a comforting smile.

Prompto released his knees from his grip and let his feet fall to the floor, leaning back and resting his back against Noctis' arm. It was a little bit embarrassing that the touch brought him more comfort than the words. He turned his head to look at Noctis, the weakest smile crossing his face when he replied, "hack me. Way to make me sound like a robot, dude," and then glanced back out at the window.

"That's not what I meant," Noctis muttered, embarrassment flooding his reflection's features. "Besides, you're the one who said it first!"

Laughing a soft, not-quite-humorous note, Prompto nudged Noctis with his shoulder. "I know. I was just kidding, kind of." Any happiness faded a couple of seconds later when he looked at his own reflection. "I'm just worried. Now that Ravus is going to be watching me closely... that he's going to be searching for a reason to take me off the crew. I feel like... like he's dooming me to fail. I barely thrive under _no_ pressure, Noct."

Noctis shrugged and wrapped his arm a little bit tighter around Prompto's shoulders. Prompto could not—would not—complain in the slightest, and he leaned a little bit closer to his best friend. Maybe the bit of vulnerability that he was feeling was lowering his defenses. Or maybe he just _wanted_ to be close to Noctis right then. Whatever it was, it had his heart beating a little bit faster in his chest, and he dared himself to look over to Noctis again. He was close. He was _really_ close, actually. Closer than he'd been that night at his apartment. Maybe if Noctis was as drunk as he'd been that night, Prompto would be brave enough to close the distance between them and kiss him. But he wasn't, so Prompto stayed put.

"What's that thing you told me?" Noctis commented, his eyes meeting Prompto's in the otherwise silent observation room. "When I was doubting my ability to be the XO? I think the exact quote was... _When have Ravus and Loqi ever had any idea what they were talking about?_ Right?"

For a second, Prompto just blinked at him. Hadn't that been one of the things he'd said when Noctis was too drunk to remember? Prompto never claimed to have a perfect memory, but that night... that night he remembered with complete clarity. Because Noctis had kissed him that night. Maybe he was wrong, though. Maybe he was just nuts, because there was no way that Noctis remembered that night. And even if he had, it didn't matter. Because he'd said that he was drunk. That he hadn't meant it. So, rather than obsess over a detail that didn't matter, Prompto gave himself an internal slap and shrugged his head to the side, turning from Noctis to look out the window again.

Chuckling a bitter note, he finally spoke. "That's never stopped them be-"

Before he could finish the sentence, he felt a soft pinching against his rib cage, and when he squealed and turned to flash Noctis an accusatory glance, Prompto saw a smirk on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. As inconvenient as it was, there was something totally _sexy_ about the look on Noctis' face right then. Even more so when the smirk grew and he made another tickling pinch to ribs.

"Dude!" Prompto shot up from the couch, batting at Noctis' hands as they followed him. "Not cool!" Even though his words were accusatory, he couldn't fight the little smirk that crossed his face.

The smirk, however, changed just slightly when Noctis stood up alongside him, taking a couple of steps forward and grabbing at his sides again. "I mean, if that's the only way to make you smile again?" he pointed out. "A best friend's gotta do what a best friend's gotta do!" He pinched, tickling against the skin with the fingers that weren't pinching.

Against Prompto's volition, he found himself laughing, wiggling to get out of Noctis' tickling grasp and taking off in a half-run toward the door. "There are _way more ways_ to make me smile and laugh than _tickling me_ , Noct!" Granted it was the fastest, and he _really_ didn't mind Noctis' fingers touching him. He could never admit either of those things aloud for obvious reasons.

Nor could he admit that the smirk that Noctis was wearing was doing things to his stomach that shouldn't have been humanly possible. It flipped and twisted in his abdomen, fluttered and made his own return smirk go lopsided. The only thing that pulled him back to awareness was the fact that Noctis had started walking closer to him, hands ready to tickle again. Part of Prompto wondered what had brought this on, but the rest of him realized that if he didn't bolt for the door _right now_ , he was going to be tickled until he could do nothing but laugh.

So, he did. Opening the door, Prompto ran across the empty mess hall—everyone else in the crew was probably on the CIC still, or maybe wandering around Alliance Command, at the cafeteria, or maybe at the combat sim; Prompto had seen Ignis' face before he went down to the lower decks, and he was _livid_ , so he likely needed to blow off some steam—and to Noctis' room. Maybe it wasn't the smartest place to go, because there was _literally_ nowhere to run from here; a fact that he realized when Noctis appeared in the door, hands still ready to tickle.

It felt like they were teenagers again in that moment, hanging around at the laser tag arena on the Citadel, chasing each other from structure to structure in what they called 'practice for when they finally found their way into the Alliance.' Admittedly, Prompto had never expected to use those particular skills like this. Maybe he should have, though. Because, of all the people in the world, Noctis knew how to coax a smile back out of Prompto when he was down. It was a little weird, having Noctis use _this_ method. Weird, but not unwelcome. He probably should have been more willing to put a stop to it. This time, though, the sullen mood that Noctis had just barely pulled him out of wouldn't allow it.

Noctis crossed the room in two swift steps, and when Prompto tried to put distance between them, he ended up backing into the wall and playfully cowering away from tickling fingers. It proved to be fruitless, and Noctis' relentless tickling assault had Prompto crawling away across the floor, back toward the door in a halfhearted attempt to escape.

So halfhearted that Noctis easily caught him again, fingers tickling Prompto's sides touches and feather light pinches once more. Prompto laughed, his body crumpling to the ground and rolling desperately in an attempt to keep Noctis from tickling his sides anymore. Instead, though, the tickling touches found their way to the front of his rib cage. He gasped in the middle of his laughter, trying to find his breath again, but instead just batting at Noctis' hands to get them away. "C-c'mon, Noct! This is totally unfair!"

Actually, Prompto—in a motion that wasn't slick or suave with the messy pile of giggles that he'd been reduced to—decided to change that fact. Rather than just lay on the floor, the willing victim to his best friend's tickling attack, Prompto reached a hand up and pinched Noctis' ribs in the same way Noctis had been pinching his. Noctis, if memory served, was _incredibly_ ticklish, in a way that made it seem like even _Prompto_ had a high tolerance to being tickled. As such, the very light touch of his fingers to Noctis' sides through his Alliance blues _definitely_ had the desired effect. His fingers stopped their relentless tickling, and his body buckled, falling forth onto Prompto's.

For a couple of seconds, Noctis' head was leaning against Prompto's chest, but Prompto's laughter—and Noctis', too—was too intense to take notice of it. His face was beet red, and when Noctis turned to look up at him, his face still contorted with laughter, it found them far closer than they had ever been before. Prompto could feel the huffing breaths against his skin, smell the light scent of that asari booze, whatever it was, and he could see the curious twinkle in Noctis' eyes.

The laughter died down, but neither of them moved. Prompto probably should have. He should have said something; should have done something. Despite that, though, he couldn't bring himself to. Was it a mistake? Probably. As was the way he couldn't fight his instinct to bring his hand up to push some of Noctis' messy bangs from his face. Prompto wasn't even _remotely_ sure what had come over him. Maybe it was the weight of Noctis' body on top of his. Maybe it was the fact that Noctis' drunken kiss always popped into his mind when everything around him was quiet. Or maybe it was just because his guard was down. Whatever it was, he'd done it and he couldn't take it back.

Noctis stared after his hand when it dropped back to his side, and he blinked a couple of times in surprise. An apology formed in his throat, but before it could escape, Noctis wiggled up the extra little length of his body separating their faces. His hands rested on either side of Prompto's head now, his body still a pleasant weight on top of Prompto's. Both of their breath had settled now, but what Prompto lacked in speedy breathing, he made up for with a rapidly pounding heartbeat.

It was intoxicating, the way Noctis' eyes were locked on his. Prompto had always marveled at Noctis' eyes. In light rooms, they were pale blue. In darker rooms they darkened to match. Prompto had always loved it. Right now, they were darker. Noctis' room wasn't really well lit unless he did it himself; his friend, despite how much he loved to sleep, could only sleep in a very dark room. The only reason that there was any light at all was because of Prompto's aversion to the dark. He'd insisted that it wasn't necessary, but Noctis had insisted the other way. Because of that, there was enough light to be able to see each other clearly, which allowed the pink flush on Noctis' cheeks to take Prompto by surprise. Prompto's heart hammered harder in his chest, and he watched as Noctis' eyes trailed down to Prompto's lips.

Then, his heartbeat almost stopped altogether when Noctis leaned down and crashed their lips together in a surprise kiss.

For a couple of seconds, Prompto was too stunned to react, beyond trying to ensure that he was still breathing. Then, after a couple of seconds spent collecting his brain, he realized exactly what was going on. Noctis was sober this time, wasn't he? Sure, he could taste the sweet taste of that asari booze on his lips, but it was very light this time. It wasn't overpowering like it had been when they'd kissed at Noctis' apartment. Just enough to show that it was there. At this point, did Prompto even care? Noctis was kissing him again and it felt even better than it had the first time. The weight of Noctis' body on top of his was incredible and the feeling of Noctis' lips on his was even better.

Reaching one hand up, Prompto rested it on the side of Noctis' neck, holding him in place and allowing himself to relax against Noctis' lips. His eyes fluttered closed, and he propped himself up on one elbow on Noctis' floor, giving himself a better angle, a better reach. Noctis, too, leaned in even more, parting his lips just slightly and teasing his tongue against Prompto's lips.

While Prompto had _no idea_ where this was coming from, he wanted it enough not to object or question it. He opened his mouth, flitting his tongue against Noctis to test out this new water they were treading. As soon as he did that, though, they went from treading to diving in and submerging themselves completely. They deepened the contact, tongues brushing against one another until they were completely and totally breathless, only breaking apart to gasp for air for a moment before going in for another kiss. At first, it wasn't elegant or professional. It was sloppy, desperate, groping; until Prompto realized that Noctis wasn't pulling away. Until he realized that, somehow, Noctis wanted this as much as Prompto did. Then, he allowed himself to slow down a little bit. His fingertips slid along Noctis' neck, then came rest on the back of it, and pull him in closer.

When Noctis urged Prompto to sit up, he did, then got to his knees, barely breaking their lips' contact except for the amount of time it took to take short gasping breaths. Noctis' lips were more important than air at the moment. Gentle hands found their way to Prompto's middle, one on his waist and the other on his hip, urging his body flush against Noctis' where they sat on their knees on Noctis' floor. The cold metal should have been uncomfortable, but Prompto wasn't bothered in the slightest. Their legs were a tangled mess; Noctis' right was between Prompto's thighs.

Of course, this precarious position meant that when Noctis pulled Prompto's body closer, the movement brushed Prompto's length against Noctis' thigh. His body shuddered at the pressure and the feeling of rubbing and pressure against an area that... hadn't really had attention from anyone other than himself in way, way too long. Noctis, too, let their kiss break long enough to rest his forehead against Prompto's and breathe a shaky breath of his own.

From this close, he could feel exactly how interested his best friend was—in him? In the attention? Whatever it was, Prompto was more than happy to provide it at the moment—and he leaned forward, initiating a kiss for the first time, reaching his hands down and grabbing hold of Noctis' hips. He guided them to rock lightly against his clothed thigh, and decided that the way that Noctis leaned into him completely, submitting, allowing Prompto to guide his movements, was the _hottest_ fucking thing he'd ever seen. Prompto's own hips stuttered against their volition, and before long, he found himself arching his hips in perfect contrast to Noctis', finding a rhythm that had both of them breathing shaky breaths into one another's shoulders.

It felt... good. _So_ good that good didn't even feel like a good enough word to describe it. Prompto didn't have _much_ experience with things like this. He wasn't a virgin or anything; he'd had sex once with each gender before. The first time was with a girl who worked at the ramen restaurant that he and Noctis frequented, before he and Noctis had gotten really close. The second was in Alliance Boot Camp, when his feelings for Noctis really hit their stride; a boy in their class had sensed how uncomfortable he was, offered to help, and went down on him in the showers.

This, though... even with all of their clothes on, even without any skin-on-skin contact beyond their lips touching, put both of those times to shame.

Maybe it was because it was Noctis. It was almost _definitely_ because it was Noctis. The taste of his lips, the warmth and friction of their bodies brushing against each other, it had him close to the edge already. Noctis reached the edge first, though, letting out a soft groan that echoed in the otherwise silent room, bouncing off the metal walls and sounding almost like music to Prompto's ears. When his body collapsed against Prompto's, his breath warm and heavy against Prompto's ear, somehow his hands found their way to Prompto's hips again and urged him along the same way Prompto had just done for Noctis.

The kisses Noctis gave then were significantly slower, significantly more tender than they'd been before, but somehow that was even hotter to Prompto. His eyes fluttered closed again, his body tensing as climax rippled its way through his body. Any cries he may have let out were silenced against Noctis' lips, but that didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around Noctis and holding tightly to him.

Once again, Noctis kissed him as they found their way back to reality. However, reality complicated things quite a bit. There was a deafening silence in Noctis' room then, as awareness of what had just happened seeped its way in around the afterglow. Usually, things like that were accompanied with discussions of feelings, weren't they? It was always a whirlwind confession, followed by passionate kisses and clothes being ripped off and falling into bed. At least, that was how it always happened in vids. Prompto, though, was confused. Unsure of what happened next, of what this meant, of what they were.

There was a little bit of confusion lining Noctis' features, too. His eyes searched Prompto's for an answer, but when he didn't get one, he laughed an awkward, embarrassed laugh and said, "pretty sure that's against all kinds of Alliance protocol, doing that in our uniforms."

"Ask me if I care," Prompto murmured in response.

Noctis chuckled. "Me either," he admitted.

A couple more beats of silence, and Noctis met his eyes again. "T-take a nap with me?" he asked, his tone surprisingly sheepish.

It wasn't an answer. Hell, it wasn't even a _question_ , really. It was definitely something, though. Five different levels of confusing, but something. Once again proving his complete and total inability to say no to Noctis, though—not that he would have anyway—Prompto nodded. "In... in your bed?" he asked.

"If you want..." Noctis murmured quietly.

The only answer that Prompto gave was a single nod, disentangling their bodies and walking over to the dresser to gather his pajamas. "Let me... let me change first. I'll be right back."

Maybe it was a little silly, not wanting to be seen naked after what they'd just done. But rubbing clothed skin against clothed skin and having Noctis actually see all of the surgical scars that Cerberus had left behind when they'd installed his extra bones and implants were two entirely different things. While there wasn't anyone he trusted more than Noctis, it was still a little bit nerve wracking.

Before Prompto retreated from the room, Noctis captured his wrist and pulled him back in for another kiss. Once again, it wasn't words. Maybe this would have been the perfect _time_ for words, but just because they'd brushed against each other a couple of times didn't mean that they were suddenly a couple, did it? It didn't matter. Prompto still felt the electricity of the kiss from his head to his toes, and he didn't give a damn about words at the moment. Words could come later. Maybe. If Noctis ever brought it up.

A lopsided smile crossed Prompto's face when the kiss broke, and he bit his lip. "I gotta get out of these sticky boxers," he admitted, laughing sheepishly. "I'll be back."

"Okay," Noctis agreed with a nod.

As Prompto retreated, walking in uncomfortable step across a still-empty mess hall, Ravus and Loqi's accusations were the furthest things from his mind. But that didn't mean that it was clear. Instead, a whole bunch of new questions raced their way through his mind in a whirlwind.

If it was Noctis' goal to distract him from Ravus and Loqi, though... mission definitely accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND HERE BEGINS THE 'THE BOYS ARE IDIOTS' CHAPTERS OF THIS ADVENTURE. Hope you enjoy. :D


	15. Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [nicoleiacross](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross) for the help with the teensy hurdle I got stuck on with this chapter! ♥

Honestly, as unsure as Noctis was about what had come over him that day, he couldn't find it in him to complain as things settled into this new normal. Prompto had abandoned the couch to sleep in Noctis' bed every night. Some nights they fooled around. They'd never straight up had sex, but they'd messed around with their hands. Touches. Teases. Some nights they didn't even do that, though. Some nights, they just held each other.

As much as Noctis liked fooling around, he thought that maybe those nights were his favorite ones of all. Nights when he would just hold Prompto and fall asleep with him. Nights when, once or twice, he'd almost slipped up and said 'I love you.' Almost. Several times, he'd almost done it. When they'd be laying there in their post-coital haze, the room quiet, the words would form in the back of Noctis' throat, but he would swallow them back down. He didn't know what he was so afraid of right now. He knew Prompto. He knew that Prompto wasn't the type to sleep around; wasn't the casual sex type in the least. If he was willing to fall into bed with someone, chances were good that he had _some_ kind of feelings for that person.

That didn't change that Noctis was scared, though. Prompto was the only person that Noctis had ever loved. He'd _liked_ a couple of people before, but the people he'd liked before he met Prompto were all completely overshadowed by his feelings by Prompto and the people he'd met _after_ Prompto never measured up. What if, by some chance, Prompto turned him down?

With his lifestyle, being raised to be an Alliance superstar, a big name like his dad, the amount he knew about romance and stuff like that was limited to what he saw with his friends and in vids. He'd dated, the occasional one or two get-togethers with guys he'd met around the galaxy. Dates that never really mattered. Partially, he figured, it was because of how he felt about Prompto. How, no matter whoever else he was with, he always wished that he was with Prompto instead. No one ever really measured up. That should have made this easier, but it didn't.

For Gladio and Ignis, it had always seemed so easy. Noctis had known them for so long that it seemed like one day they just went from being barely friends to inseparable. Luna and Nyx, everyone on the ship knew their story; how they'd wanted each other for so long and how Luna had _finally_ been brave enough to say something. Noctis expected things to be like that for him, too. He expected to have an epiphany like his friends did; to suddenly be less afraid. To be ready to tell Prompto how he felt.

It hadn't happened yet.

That was what had him in Luna's office today. The meeting with Ravus had been enlightening as ever—they were supposed to go to an abandoned Cerberus base on the planet Kadru in the Serpentess system, rescue some Alliance personnel who were captured on a mission, complete their mission, and then report back—and Noctis was supposed to message him later that day with Luna's monthly medical report on Prompto's physical well-being. The reports sat on Noctis' lap; Prompto had a clean bill of health. No physical strain, and his new biotic exercise regimen was working well and doing wonders for his field combat abilities. If Ravus managed to find a complaint in that, then Noctis would be really, _really_ mad.

No matter how many times Noctis' dad had tried, after the incident with Cor, Alliance Command had agreed with Ravus that periodic checks on Prompto's _physical_ abilities were a good idea. "To ensure that he wasn't a risk for migraines again," they'd said. While Noctis _wanted_ to disagree, he was in no position to actively do so. So, instead, he allowed himself to take comfort in the disappointment that his dad gave off when he told them about it, as well as the fact that they hadn't asked for evaluations on more than that.

As Noctis sat across from Luna, he took a drink from the coffee mug she'd filled for him and stared at the tan liquid inside his cup for a few moments too long. "It's not fair, the way they're treating him," he finally spoke, taking the stirrer in his hand and needlessly swirling it around in his coffee. "He's better than this."

Luna nodded her agreement. "I know he is. We all know he is. Alliance Command knows he is, too, I'm reasonably certain. But the moment that Ravus decides to bring it up to the non-human council members, there would really be trouble." She was looking at the floor, the situation with her brother obviously weighing on her. "They would scream favoritism, and it's likely that everything we have would be called into question." Raising her coffee to her lips, she took a sip to silence any further sadness.

It didn't silence Noctis' mind, though. "I'm sorry, Luna. This has to suck," he commented, tossing his coffee stirrer into the trash and then taking a slow sip.

She nodded. "It does," she admitted. "But as difficult as it is, I've long since given up feeling the need to live my life for Ravus' approval. I love my brother. I always will. Just like I know that he loves me." A sullen expression crossed her face and she puffed out a sigh, taking another drink from her coffee cup. "Now, though, I realize that Ravus isn't the same person I idolized as a girl." 

Noctis nodded a sullen nod and took a sip from his coffee. "Has he contacted you since the inspection?" he asked. That happened sometimes, and Noctis knew it. After they were in some sort of instance where contact between Luna and Ravus was forced, Ravus would contact Luna shortly thereafter and make a futile attempt to make her leave the ship.

"Not this time," Luna admitted, her answer surprising Noctis. "I think he finally realizes that it's not going to work. That as much as I love him, I want to be with my husband; with all of you. That I know that you would all would be completely lost without me." When she turned her head back to look at Noctis, a fond smile spread across her face.

At that, Noctis couldn't help but laugh. "I want to tell you that you're wrong, because it makes us sound kinda pathetic, but you're totally not wrong." He didn't look up from his coffee cup, and part of him wished he hadn't thrown his stirrer away so that he could use it to distract himself. 

Luna looked at him, and when after a few seconds, he still hadn't looked up fully or said anything, she cleared her throat. "Noctis, you have a thousand yard stare," she pointed out. Her expression was expectant. Like somehow, she already knew what he was going to say.

Noctis, once again, didn't say anything right away. Part of him wanted to. Part of him wanted to explode and tell Luna _everything_ about what was going on between him and Prompto. It had been a couple of weeks since that first kiss, after all. The other part of him, though, was sure that she would either be endlessly frustrated at him or excited too early. "Sorry, I'm... I just..."

"Does this have anything to do with what Prompto told me during his appointment?" she asked.

Blinking, Noctis looked at Luna in question. Prompto had told her? Or was it about something different? He bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe..." he murmured, turning his head to look at the empty med bay beds. "Depends on what he told you." Was it possible that he could get out of this without saying the words aloud?

A flash of annoyance crossed Luna's face, but she quickly replaced it with a calm smile and a little chuckle. "You're hopeless, Noctis," she teased him. "You kissed him and I'm assuming that you still have yet to tell him how you feel." Her tone suggested that it was more than an assumption. That she knew it to be a fact.

"I..." Rather than answer with words, though, Noctis opted to clamp down on his lip and shake his head no.

She heaved a sigh and set her coffee cup on the desk, folding her hands in her lap. "Why haven't you?" she asked him, crossing one knee over the other and then looking at Noctis expectantly.

Noctis laughed a humorless note, then breathed in a deep breath and let it out sharply. "Because I barely even know why I kissed him when I did." He paused. "Okay, no. I know why I kissed him when I did. Because he was looking at me and smiling and he did one of those... hair things. Where he pushes these from my face." After a vague motion to his long bangs, Noctis shrugged his head to the side.

With a soft chuckle, Luna added, "plus, you've wanted to since you were sixteen years old," she pointed out.

He felt heat rising to his cheeks at that, and he nodded a single, shy nod as he glanced down at his coffee cup again. "Yeah. Plus that. Plus, I just wanted... I just wanted him to be happy. After everything that they said to him that day, I wanted..." He wanted to make it hurt less. Apparently his mind, on a shot of asari liquor, thought that the best way to do that was with a kiss. He didn't bring that part up to Luna.

"Well, that's the hard part, is it not?" she asked him. "The kiss is out of the way. So, now all that's left is to take him aside and say, 'Prompto, I love you.'" After a brief pause, she shrugged her head and smiled. "It actually feels kind of nice. It's a little bit scary in the moment, but after you get it out of the way and the pair of you can figure out where to go from there, it will feel good."

Noctis shook his head no. "Just because I love him doesn't mean he feels the same way," he pointed out. "What if... all that was—all it's been—to him, was a way to relieve stress?" If that was what it had been, it was definitely working, in the physical sense.

To that, Luna looked incredulous. "Noctis, you're being ridiculous. This is Prompto. Does he seem like the type who'd act like that?" she asked him.

The answer was, of course, no. Still, that didn't mean that this wasn't a special case. Fear of what would happen, fear of what Prompto's answer would be, fear of ruining their friendship more than he already might have by doing what he'd already done, crept up and kept him from answering Luna aloud. He still didn't answer. Instead, he stood from his seat and took a long sip from his coffee cup. It was half gone, and he probably should have felt bad for wasting Luna's coffee, but the longer he was in here, the more Luna would convince him that his fear was unfounded. And what if she was wrong? What would he do if he spilled his guts to Prompto, and Prompto said 'sorry, dude, but it's not like that,' or something?

"Noctis...?" Luna asked, her tone questioning and concerned.

He didn't meet her eye. "I have to send this off," he told Luna.

Luna stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad smile. "Can you promise me that you'll at least think of what I said?" she asked him. "You don't have to hurry. It's not like either of you is going anywhere. But think about it, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she reached out and pulled him in for a hug.

That was one thing he could definitely promise her, too. He already _did_ think about it. Waking up in the morning and looking over to the other side of his bed, seeing Prompto laying there—either sleeping or just awake—he thought about just blurting it out all the time, but he always stopped himself. Instead of pointing that out, though, he hugged Luna back and nodded his head against her shoulder.

"I will," he answered. "Thanks, Luna."

After a brief goodbye, he stepped out of Luna's office and pulled in a deep breath. Stretching his back, he started toward the elevator to go up to the CIC and use the official terminal to message pictures of Prompto's medical file to Ravus. Something about the fact that Ravus had chosen _him_ for this particular task, rather than allowing Luna to do it like standard Alliance protocol usually dictated, felt like a massive middle finger. Like Ravus was asking him to betray Prompto by giving all of his private information to someone who he'd said, on no uncertain terms, made him miserable. Noctis heaved a sigh, waving at Weskham as he passed.

Weskham waved back, then from the corner of his eye, he noticed that the Mess Sergeant was making Prompto's favorite green curry soup for dinner. Ever since Cor had been killed, Prompto and Weskham had grown incredibly close. Weskham took over what Gentiana had started in her training, constantly reassuring Prompto that what happened with Cor _wasn't_ his fault. It was a damn good thing, too, because after Ravus called him out, it set him back a little ways in his recovery. Noctis did what he could in normal moments, when they sat in the lounge playing games or watching vids, to help him remember that Ravus was full of shit. Still, having others helping him out was definitely good.

And while green curry soup was far from Noctis' favorite, if it would keep a smile on Prompto's face, he'd gladly eat it every night if he had to.

Shaking his head to try and regain his focus, he stepped into the elevator and was taken off guard to come face to face with a rushed Iris, who crashed into him and practically knocked him backward into the wall. Iris shook her head hard and flashed him a smile when she realized that it was him that she'd crashed into. "There you are! I was looking for you!" she told him, poking him in the shoulder and placing her hand on her hip. "You busy?"

"I have to go and send these files to Ravus, but after that, I'm not. Why?" he asked her, motioning into the elevator, despite the fact that it closed now that Iris had stepped out of it.

Iris shrugged a shoulder. "Because you keep getting messages about that... whatever, big hunk of ugly Cerberus metal in port cargo. You've gotten literally five in the past hour and a half," she said, sounding a little bit exasperated as she motioned upstairs to her station.

Groaning an exasperated noise of his own, Noctis' shoulders slumped a bit. "Of course I have. From who?" he asked. He didn't need to ask, probably. Anyone sending that many messages in a row had to be an impatient ass, and the most impatient asses he knew were Ravus and Loqi.

And because of that, he wasn't surprised in the slightest when Iris answered, "Captain Tummelt. The first one was just like, 'oh, do you know anything about the thing?' but they got progressively more obnoxious."

"You read my mail?" Noctis asked, his eyebrow arched.

Her exasperation growing ever more present, she gave him a look that showed that she wasn't amused in the slightest. "Noct. I'm your Comm Specialist. It's my job to read your mail. Look for anything out of place. Remember?" She put a hand on her hip. "But as your _friend_ , I feel like I should tell you that it's a hundred percent in your best interest if you go check in on Iggy and Nyx and see how they're doing so you can answer Loqi. Because when I said progressively more obnoxious, I wasn't kidding." Motioning to his omni-tool, she said, "seriously. Read it."

Noctis opened his messages when Iris directed him to, glancing at the messages—he had fifteen, five of which were from Loqi, just as Iris had stated; four more were from other Alliance higher-ups, assignments that the crew would be sent on after the Cerberus raid, two were spam, and the rest were personal—and he grunted. He missed the days, mere weeks ago, when he didn't get over thirty emails on the average day.

Opening the last email from Loqi, he read it over. Honestly, he could almost hear the taciturn Captain's voice as he read the words. _I don't know how these things worked before, Caelum, but when a superior sends you a message, you respond to it. I expect an update on Ulric and Scientia's progress on that probe by the end of the day, or else Alliance Command will hear of how unwilling you are to work with me. - Captain Loqi Tummelt_

"Ass," Noctis grumbled, closing his omni-tool and heaving a heavy sigh. "Looks like I'm heading down to the lower decks before I send these off to Ravus, then."

Iris grimaced. "I don't like that thing being down there," she confessed, following him into the elevator in spite of her complaints.

Shrugging, Noctis huffed his agreement. "Neither do I," he told her. "None of us do." Especially not Prompto.

"Like, I know it's supposed to comfort me that it's inactive, but it doesn't. What if one day Cerberus decides to remotely activate it and it blows up and sucks Iggy and Gladdy out into space or something?" she asked, making an explosion movement with her hands. "Or what if it like... sends out an EMP pulse that totally wipes all of the ship's systems and we're stuck drifting in deep space until we die? Or what if it takes control of guidance systems and pilots us straight into a sun and there's nothing Ara or Cin can do to override it? Or what if-"

Noctis cut her off with a gentle, "sh," and a soft laugh in spite of the horrible situations that she was describing. "I seriously doubt it's any of those things, Iris," he added as the elevator door opened. The pair of them stepped out, and he glanced down at the port cargo door.

It didn't seem like Iris was comforted, though. "But we don't _know_. And like... Nyx and Iggy can't get through it. They're literally the Alliance's best hackers and they can't get through the stupid encryptions! Whatever's hiding under there has to be bad, doesn't it? If they can't get through?" she asked, stopping Noctis before he opened the door to port cargo.

Honestly, her concerns were Noctis' same concerns. There wasn't a single thing that they'd encountered so far that Nyx or Ignis couldn't hack through. They'd gotten to the point that they'd started calling Cindy up every now and then to help them, but even _she_ couldn't find a crack in the code. Whatever ciphers they'd used had to be good. A coding language that they'd developed on their own. Noctis didn't know much about coding or hacking—though he was sort of tempted to learn sometimes—but it sounded really, really complicated, and it made him wonder if they'd ever be able to make it through.

"I bet it's a bomb," Iris muttered before Noctis could comment.

Noctis laughed a soft note. "It's not a bomb. It's not like it's a locked box that has stuff inside it. We've gotten down to the center of it, right to the motherboard and everything. That's what Nyx and Specs are looking at," he explained as he pushed on the button to open the door. "Although, if it'll get the Alliance to let us space it, we could just lie and be like 'oh it's a bomb, let's get it the hell off our ship.' Or rewire it to look like a bomb or something-"

Through a halfhearted chuckle and from across the room, Nyx glanced over his shoulder. "Let's not," he replied.

"Indeed," Ignis replied, typing a code into his omni-tool and then scanning the open probe with his glasses. "Granted, it's threatening enough being an unknown... if we spaced it without knowing what it does and someone else got their hands on it? Can you imagine how horrible that would be?"

Heaving a sigh, Noctis nodded his head. "Not as horrible as Loqi sending me about five hundred emails demanding updates about the thing, I bet," he mused, looking at Nyx. "And if I got five hundred, I can only imagine how many you got."

Iris rolled her eyes. "It was only five, not five hundred, but..." She trailed off, ticking her shoulder up in a shrug.

Turning his head back to the probe, Nyx shrugged. "Well, you can tell Captain Fuck that if he wants an update, it's exactly the same as when he asked me this morning. The encryption is strong, and like nothing I've seen before. It's going to take time." He walked over to the motherboard, and then glanced at Ignis, who just shook his head. Heaving a sigh, Nyx amended, "a lot of time," then turned to look at Noctis.

"Do you want me to get Cindy again?" Iris asked.

Nyx shook his head no. "She's got Prompto in the vents helping her install some new shield components that Gladio picked up on the Citadel, so she's busy. We'll keep at it." He turned around and looked at Noctis. "You good?"

Was he good? They were being ordered around by a deranged Admiral who wanted to make their lives hell, and he had to deliver files that were a betrayal of his best friend's trust _to_ said deranged admiral to be picked apart. They had a Cerberus probe of unknown origin that could be a bomb or an EMP or a guidance systems hacker on board and there was nothing they could do about it. Everything seemed to want to gang up on his favorite person in the world, and make him feel like he was a failure. Plus, he was head over heels in love _with_ said favorite person and didn't dare tell him at the risk of ruining their friendship. The only times he felt even _partially_ good nowadays were when he was with Prompto or when he had some sort of booze in his system. But whatever stresses he was dealing with... Nyx's had to be worse.

So, instead of answering truthfully, he just nodded. "Fine," he told Nyx. "I'm going to go send this to Ravus, then give Loqi his damn update." With a chagrined smile, he waved at Nyx, Ignis, and Iris, then turned to the door.

Before he did anything, though, he had to make a stop at the lounge. He really needed a drink.


	16. Dossier

The one good thing that Prompto could say about Kadru was that, unlike the past two planets they'd been sent to, it was settled. The atmosphere was breathable like on Midgardsomr, but the biggest selling point was that there was an actual city that they'd been able to stop at and stock up. It gave the rest of the crew a chance to walk around and stretch their legs, to refuel the ship and check all of the external systems while the ground team carried out their mission. It was amusing, too, watching the colonists stare as the team drove by in a giant armored Alliance tank. They all stared in wide-eyed wonder as this vehicle—larger, even, than their transport trucks—took up whole streets and stopped traffic flow as it drove past. 

Prompto and Noctis had, at one point, popped out of the top of the tank to wave at a group of kids who were playing in a small patch of untouched land. The kids ran around with model Alliance ships, and when the tank turned the corner, they'd gaped in wonder and run down the street to hurry to the end of the street beside it. Through the top of the tank, Prompto and Noctis waved at the children, watching as they disappeared into the distance, jumping up and down and waving their arms at the tank after it turned the corner.

It made Prompto wonder, as he settled back down into the tank, if these people had any real clue that a Cerberus facility sat right in the middle of their settlement. Thinking back to Garuda, to his childhood, he wondered if there were any facilities like this back then. Cerberus was composed of clever people. Scientists. It wouldn't surprise Prompto if every small settlement like this had some sort of Cerberus facility on it. That thought made his blood run cold as he settled back into his seat.

Noctis looked at him, concern lining his eyes as a blue armor-clad hand came up to grip Prompto's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, eyes kind and concerned as they examined Prompto closely.

Whether or not Prompto was okay was really relative. "I'll tell you later," he promised. And he would. Later, after this mission was complete. After Noctis had to deal with all the stress of reporting to Ravus and Loqi and after everything was out of the way for the day Prompto would tell Noctis exactly what was on his mind. While they lay in Noctis' bed together.

 _That_ whole thing was still a wild and new development, but one that Prompto _definitely_ didn't mind. Didn't mind, actually, was an understatement. He loved every single second of it. Laying in Noctis' bed, fooling around or talking until they fell asleep, whatever the two of them felt like that night. As much as Prompto _loved_ the feeling of Noctis' hands on his skin, of Noctis' lips against his—and he did, more than he could ever express aloud—something about the nights when Noctis held him, or he held Noctis, and they just talked until they fell asleep were Prompto's favorite nights of all. Those were the nights that Prompto realized _exactly_ how in love he was, and those were the nights when Prompto almost burst at the seams, spilling his confession of love all over Noctis' room.

Almost. But not quite.

They'd only been doing this for a couple of weeks, but Prompto already couldn't imagine nights without it again. The thought was enough to distract him from his unpleasant thought process and bring a smile back to his face as he turned to glance sidelong at Noctis. "You know," he said quietly to Noctis, as Nyx, Gladio, and Ignis went over some mission-related things that they probably should have been paying attention to, "some shore leave down the road, I think maybe I want to go to colonies like this and talk to kids."

The suggestion was kind of a personal one for Prompto. Most colony kids who wanted to join the Alliance—who wanted to make a difference in any way, really—never ended up doing it, because to them, it seemed like the Alliance never really cared about them. Prompto probably never would have joined himself, had Garuda never been attacked; had he never ended up growing up on the Citadel with Noctis and the others. If there was anything good that Cerberus had ever done, Prompto figured it was that.

"What, like as a recruiter?" Noctis asked quietly, neither his tone or his smile judgmental.

Prompto quirked his head to the side. "Kind of, but not really." He paused, chuckling softly and glancing at his green-armed hands. "More like... volunteer work? Helping them out, you know? Showing them that the Alliance—or at least people _in_ the Alliance—care about them. Showing them that even though it'd probably be easier to become a researcher or a farmer, and it's totally cool if they _want_ to, because farmers and researchers are totally important... that if they _want_ to join the Alliance, they totally can. They totally should. Because it's an awesome life."

Noctis smiled at him, the kind of smile that made Prompto's knees feel a little weak. "That sounds like an awesome idea," he agreed. "Maybe I'll come, too. If... if you want, I mean." He raked a hand through his hair, which immediately fell back into its same old style afterward.

"As if I'd say no," Prompto quirked a grin, shoving Noctis in the shoulder. Admittedly, that was part of the reason he'd shared it aloud. The intent was to be the one to _ask_ Noctis to go with him, but having Noctis offer was even better. "It'll be even better if you come along. I mean... everyone knows the Caelum name."

Nyx, glancing over his shoulder, butted into the conversation and suggested, "maybe it could be a team thing."

Prompto jumped, turning to look at the captain, completely unaware that their tactical discussion had stopped, and they'd been listening to the conversation. Not only was he surprised by that, though, but he was _also_ surprised by the fact that Nyx seemed open to the idea of the whole team traveling to colonies together on shore leaves. Maybe he shouldn't have been. It seemed like the type of thing Cor would have suggested, back when he was alive, and he'd been more or less singlehandedly responsible for training Nyx to be the good captain that he was. Still, it took Prompto off guard.

"You think?" Prompto asked.

Humming a nod of agreement, Ignis peered at him through the rearview mirror. "You're right, Prompto. Colonists like this don't get a lot of Alliance help, and I think that if there's anything that can be done to end that unfortunate trend, we should see to it that it _is_ done." He smiled.

And Prompto couldn't help but smile in return. The smile quickly faded, though, when he explained part of his motives. "I just can't help but think of the fact that... y'know, these people are living peacefully, not knowing that there's this Cerberus research facility right smack in the middle of where they call home. Feels like... feels like the Alliance should care more," he shrugged. "Maybe that's just me being-"

"Nah," Gladio countered. "It's not. You're right. Bet there are facilities like this on a lot of small colonies. I could pitch the idea to my dad, too. Next time we get some free time, I can't see the rest of the crew _not_ wanting to check some small colonies."

The smile that spread across Prompto's face then was part sheepish, part proud. It was an odd combination of feelings that probably made his face look weird, but he couldn't help it. Yeah, he was surprised at everyone's willingness to go along with him on something that was admittedly a little bit personal, but maybe he shouldn't have been. They were those types of people. Plus, the crew was a family; the thick and thin type. It was why he was so proud to be a part of it.

With a smile still on his face, Prompto said, "thanks, guys."

From there, the conversation changed. After a few beats of silence, wherein everyone was probably considering trips to colonies and volunteer work, Ignis pointed out that they were nearing the facility. He explained that it was in a re-purposed modular Alliance research building, a discontinued model—which made sense in an unfortunate sort of way, since Cerberus had splintered off from the Alliance decades ago—and that even despite that, they shouldn't expect a quick in and out. Prompto never really expected anything like that with Cerberus, though.

They pulled onto another street, one that was completely devoid of human life, as opposed to the others that either had children playing or people going about their business. Nyx explained that since discovering that the facility was Cerberus, the colonists had stayed away from it completely, not wanting to encounter what experiments were going on inside. _Smart people,_ Prompto thought, glancing at the display, at the facility as it entered his vision.

From here, the Cerberus facility looked just like a normal building. An old Alliance prefab, just like Nyx had told them. Like, really old. Back in the days when Noctis' dad and Gladio's dad were running the show. It was just an average one story high building, and made of the same metal that most research buildings were. The only thing differentiating it from any Alliance research building was the fact that the door was emblazoned with that same yellow logo that Prompto had seen too many times over the past few weeks. It looked like the facility had been abandoned recently, according to the limited reports that Loqi gave them.

Prompto didn't trust any of the reports, though. He didn't trust _anything_ that Loqi said. Especially when it came to things like this.

He didn't trust anything about Loqi at all, really. How he was always ready with a comment at someone's expense. How there was always something _just_ beneath his expression, implying that there was more to his statement, but every time that someone asked, he always made it seem like they were crazy. How he could just _look_ at Prompto and make him feel like he didn't deserve to exist, let alone to exist with the people that he existed with. How he looked like a stronger, more confident version of Prompto...

Shaking that thought off, he leaned against the wall where Nyx told him to, and watched as Nyx went into stealth, then ordered Gladio to breach the door. It was funny, in a good way, how all of them kicked into professional mode now that they were on the ground. Ignis' glasses were already active. Prompto's drone was already out, ready to record the whole mission. Noctis's body turned purple with biotic energy. Whatever was behind that door, between them and the Alliance researchers, didn't stand a chance and that made Prompto grin in spite of himself.

When Nyx, in stealth, hacked the lock and the door opened, they were greeted with silence. Silence and darkness. The whole area looked eerie. Like something from a video game or a movie. Hanging wires and broken windows, shattered computers and overturned tables. Gladio moved to step into the room, but a purple-clad reached out and stopped him.

"I'm picking up five biometric signatures in the main hall. And three more beneath the floor. A basement, I assume. Captain Tummelt's report said there were eight researchers captured," Ignis told them, his tone dismal.

Eight researchers. Eight biometric signatures. Did that mean that research team was in there? Free to roam around? They were _free_ and they were in that mess? Blinking and staring out into the emptiness, into the darkness and sparks, Prompto found himself wondering what kind of person would willingly walk around in there. He turned and looked at Ignis in surprise.

Gladio turned his head back to the door, then frowned as he looked back at the rest of the team. "Think it's safe to say that the signatures Iggy's picking up are the research team, then." His voice was calmer, but when Ignis responded, he was dismal again; concerned.

It was also quiet. "Indeed, but what I haven't said yet is that the biometric signatures are all wired. Wires connecting their limbs to their bodies." After a brief pause, he continued, "and it seems that the three downstairs are in some sort of pod to force stasis."

"No..." Prompto murmured.

Cerberus had turned the researchers into more of those things that they'd fought on Chaos. The sound of an omni-tool from behind Prompto jumped him just slightly, until he saw Nyx, who had just dropped stealth with the realization that they weren't going to be fighting as soon as the doors opened. "Prompto. Start recording. Whatever's going on in there, Alliance Command is gonna want to see it."

Ignis added, "don't breach any doors without the rest of the group. The troopers are spread out in the research rooms, but some rooms have multiple in them," in a command to the whole group.

Nodding once, Prompto called his own omni-tool and ordered his drone to start recording everything that happened in the facility. Gladio and Noctis went into the facility first, Ignis and Prompto behind them, with Nyx pulling up the rear and closing the door behind them. Ignis hit a small locking mechanism next to the door, likely to keep the researchers from escaping if they _had_ been turned into those wired troopers, and then they set about to exploring.

The whole facility was even eerier on the inside. Something about an abandoned building that he _knew_ belonged to the people who made him the 'walking malfunction' that he was struck a chord in Prompto's stomach and made him take every single step carefully. The shattered windows into some of the rooms made Ignis' command not to breach doors without the rest of the group, a relatively needless one. As Prompto passed a door that looked like it led to a room filled with knocked over petri dishes and microscopes, he spotted something moving in the shadows.

It wasn't a heavy movement. It wasn't hard or jerky like a robot's; it was swift. Just a blur of human-shaped motion, moving from one side of the shattered open space of window, which led him to believe that it might have been one of those troopers.

In a low whisper, Prompto called out to the others. "Guys. There's some movement in that room," he warned.

Gladio and Noctis didn't need to be told twice. Taking up position in front of the door, Gladio stepped up to the unlock pad and watched as Noctis covered the open window with a quick omni-barrier, blocking off the other exit so that whatever was in the room couldn't get out and attack them from behind. While they prepared to breach the door, Prompto called up a swirl of biotic energy in his hand, holding it there and having it ready to shoot out, just in case.

That decision ended up being a good one. As soon as the door slid open, one of the human-shaped biotech troopers shot out, pummeling Gladio and trying to take him to the ground. Gladio responded by quickly calling forth his omni-shield and knocking it backward, and Ignis captured it in a stasis bubble. In the very short time between the pop of the stasis bubble, the release of Prompto's reave, and the fire from Nyx's sniper rifle striking it in the head, he realized that not only was this one of the biotech troopers, but this particular biotech trooper was in an Alliance research uniform. It all but confirmed their theory.

"Fuck," Gladio cursed, releasing his omni-shield and turning around to look at the rest of the group. "You guys alright?"

Prompto nodded in response to Gladio's question, then stared dumbly at the trooper on the ground as it threw off sparks and blood at the same time. He walked forward, bringing his drone with him to get a close shot of the trooper's face. An ill feeling rose in his gut as he crouched, looking the figure over and frowning. Would he have looked like this, if Cerberus had been able to finish their research? Suddenly, he was all the more thankful for Noctis' dad and his team for saving him so many years ago. Closing his eyes tight and pulling in a shaky breath, he got to his feet and looked around at the broken microscopes and petri dishes all throughout the room. Wire that resembled the wires sticking out of the trooper's arms and legs stood stored on a shelf in the back of the room. As his drone took video, it also got several pictures of the wires and everything else in the room.

Once the first room was cleared, they were all the more aware that they'd have to fight their way through this facility to clear it out. And Prompto, personally, was all the more grateful that Ignis had locked the door once they got inside. The last thing he wanted was for any of these troopers to get out and start attacking the colony.

A troubling thought crept to the forefront of his mind. "Do you think they did something like this to any of the colonists?" he asked as he followed behind Noctis to the next door.

They stopped before they got inside, and Ignis turned to Prompto, frowning as he answered the question. "I would say that it's more or less an inevitability, sadly," he confessed.

Gladio grumbled from his chest and glanced at Prompto over his shoulder. "Iggy's right," he agreed. "Got the sneaking suspicion they're trying to make a damned army." He stepped over a knocked down chair, then stopped a few steps before the next door. The window was more or less in one piece this time, but it still looked like it would shatter at any second, so he stood guard.

"That's the last thing we need," Noctis muttered.

Nyx huffed a laugh of bitter agreement. "Yeah. But stuff like that isn't out of Cerberus repertoire at all. Think of what they did to..." Clamping down on his lip, he looked apologetically at Prompto.

But Prompto shook his head, dismissing the apology. "Exactly. Look at what they did to me. To these people. To tons of other people before me," he nodded his agreement. "They'll do anything to get what they want. Now we've just gotta figure out what that is so we can make sure... y'know, they don't get it." He wanted to sound sure, but he didn't.

"We will," Noctis promised, catching Prompto's eye and nodding with the certainty that Prompto couldn't provide.

After a beat of silence, Ignis said, "there are two in here. Noct, as soon as you open the door, I'm going to put up a stasis. Prompto, warp it and blast them with a biotic explosion," he commanded. "If either of them still stand, the rest of you do what needs to be done to take them out." He charged up a biotic blast in his hand, and without being told, Prompto followed suit.

Just as planned, when Noctis opened the door, Ignis froze the two troopers in a biotic stasis bubble. Prompto warped them, and the ensuing blast made Noctis stumble a little bit. One of the troopers moved to stand back up even _after_ that, though, and Noctis charged forward, slamming into the female trooper with all of his energy and then punching the ground with a nova blast, which took her out. This room, Prompto noticed, was lined with computer consoles, and as they stepped inside, Ignis and Nyx immediately got to work trying to hack into them.

Prompto walked around the room with his drone, getting video and taking pictures of everything he passed. More wires, metal chest plates, blood samples... one wall was lined completely with broken monitors and a busted terminal. Prompto stopped in front of it and glanced down, blinking.

"You sure you're okay?" Noctis' voice hit his ear before he even realized that his friend was behind him, and when he turned, he saw dark blue eyes examining him with concern.

Was he okay? This whole thing was unsettling to him for a hundred reasons, and scary for a hundred more. The very real realization that he could have been one of these things, had _one day_ of his life not gone even a little bit differently, scared the hell out of him. The mission they'd been sent on already failed before they even got there. They were in a facility filled with biotech troopers who wanted to kill them. So, was he okay? Not really. But he would be. He would be, because they'd do whatever they could to make sure Cerberus didn't get to succeed with whatever they were planning.

Before Prompto got the chance to answer, though, he heard Ignis' voice. "On alert!" he whisper-shouted. "The remaining two troopers are on their way here."

As soon as the words escaped, the window to Prompto's left shattered. He barely had the time to react enough to turn his head away, to shield his eyes with his arm, before one of the biotech troopers jumped the open space and reared up to punch him. Before the hit could connect, Noctis biotic charged across the small space to hit the trooper and knock it to the ground. The second trooper was ablaze, set on fire by an incineration blast from Nyx, and Gladio knocked it to the floor with a concussive blast. Prompto's heart hammered in his chest, but he hit the two troopers with an expanded reave field, hitting them both.

Noctis' responding warp blast caused a biotic explosion that sent Prompto to his ass on the ground, but he picked himself up quickly and looked to see that the two troopers were on the ground, and this time they wouldn't be getting up.

Breathing a slow breath through his nose, Prompto shook his head hard in an attempt to calm himself. "Thanks, guys. Sorry I-"

"None of that," Ignis cut him off gently. "I should imagine being in the shatter zone of a large window like that would alarm any of us."

Nyx laughed a half-laugh in response. "Not to mention having Noct knock you down with a biotic explosion," he added, casting his eyes toward Noctis with a tiny smirk.

Chuckling a humorless note, Noctis looked at Prompto and worried his lip between his teeth. "Sorry. Didn't mean to knock you over or anything, I just-"

Prompto shook his head. "If it was that or getting my ass handed to me by a biotech trooper, I think I'll take falling to the ground. Even if it is on camera for all of Alliance Command to see now." He chuckled softly at his own expense, then turned to glance at Ignis, Gladio, and Nyx, who were all gathered around the same computer screen.

Gladio was the first to look up. Only, he didn't just look up. He looked up and looked straight at Prompto.

A few seconds later, Ignis' gaze followed, and his eyes took a slight turn toward Prompto's drone, which was still facing toward Noctis and Prompto, in a subtle cue to cut the feed. Prompto did as he was told, putting his drone back in photography mode, and then blinked at Ignis when he said, "if command asks, tell them that a pulse cut the feed."

"Why?" Noctis asked, his head tilted to the side.

Nyx's eyes went to Prompto then. "Because we found something that we'd rather not have Ravus pick apart. Prompto, you're going to want to see this."

As Prompto crossed the room, his face twisted further and further into confusion and concern. What could they have found here, of all places, that he would want to see? Specifically him? Noctis followed behind him, always his support system, no matter what mysteries they faced. When he stopped in front of the computer and turned toward it, he realized that the support might be needed now more than ever.

On the screen was Prompto's whole life story. Information that even _he_ didn't know. His mother's name, his _father's_ name... and the fact that he was born in a Cerberus research facility. His mother was a Cerberus researcher, who went on the run as soon as Prompto was born and cut all of her Cerberus ties. His father was the lead researcher in a genetic enhancement program—the one to make the biotech troopers that they'd been fighting this whole time. Perhaps the most shocking piece of information, though, was that Prompto had an older half-brother. The documents confirmed this half-brother's existence, but never named him directly. Evidently, though, this alleged half-brother was a high-ranking Cerberus operative, too. Staring blankly at the screen, taking in as much of the information as his mind would let him take at once, he turned to look at the other members of the team, who all eyed him with concern.

Noctis especially, stood a little closer to him. "We should take this with us..."

"But... but won't you..." Prompto's voice trembled at first, but he swallowed thickly, meeting Noctis' eyes and trying to steady himself. "Won't you have to send it to Ravus?" he asked, his voice still meek.

Behind him, Nyx spoke up instead. "Not this one, I don't think. If you were a security risk, then maybe. But you're not, so we won't."

Prompto looked back down at the file, and then over his shoulder at Nyx, who nodded an encouraging nod at him. "Thanks..." he mumbled, before calling up his omni-tool and downloading the file.

"Let's finish up here," Gladio encouraged, placing a hand on Prompto's shoulder. "And when we get back to the ship, you can read that."

Admittedly, Prompto wanted nothing more than to stand in this room for the rest of the mission and read what was on this file. His father's name. The fact that he had a half-brother. His _mother_ had started out as a Cerberus researcher. So much information that swirled in his brain and brought up a hundred thousand questions that he wanted the answers to right now. Gladio was right, though. The mission was more important. As soon as they finished, though; as soon as he was back safely in his home... he'd read _every detail_ in these files.


	17. Profess

Noctis was endlessly grateful when Nyx had agreed to handle Ravus and Loqi after the Kadru mission. He'd have to make a point to buy him a drink or something the next time they were on the Citadel. Right now, though, that was the furthest thing from his mind. All he could think of right now was the fact that he needed to be there for Prompto. To be in the room with him while he read over the files, while he learned things that he didn't know about himself. Things he didn't _want_ to know about himself. At least, those were the only types of things that he was finding so far.

The files told him that his dad had killed his mom. He'd been living his whole life with a tiny sliver of hope that maybe his mom was still out there somewhere, but through a file—through information on an omni-tool—he discovered that she was dead. She'd died in some sort of horrible, unfair retribution for the "crime" of wanting to free her son from a Cerberus facility.

His brother, if what he'd read in the file was true, was a Cerberus VIP; created for the same purpose Prompto was. Apparently, when Prompto was created—another thing he'd found to be true; he was a test tube baby, created rather than conceived—he was designed with genes specifically cultivated for him to grow into a super-biotic. His mother, Laeta, had second thoughts after Prompto was born and ran with him. Many of his files chronicled the Cerberus search for him. Prompto sat on Noctis' bed, his feet pulled up to sit butterfly-style, poring over the documents some more, for any hint about who his alleged half-brother was.

As much as Noctis wanted to make him stop, he also didn't. Instead, he poured another drink from the bottle of asari fruit vodka—weaker than the stuff he'd been drinking lately, but strong enough to put a haze on their brains, anyway—bringing one over to Prompto. For a second, Prompto eyed him in question, but then his eyes fell to the booze, and then to the information on his omni-tool, and he took the drink from Noctis' hand. In one drink, he downed over half of it, shaking his head—likely at the burning feeling—and then went back to finish it off.

"Hey, slow down a little bit, huh?" Noctis suggested, sliding to sit next to Prompto on the bed. He tried to keep his tone level, but the worry that lined his features was probably more than obvious. Especially to someone who knew him as well as Prompto did. "Looking through files is about ten times tougher when you can't see the letters straight. This stuff may be weak, but it's still booze."

Shrugging, with a dismal expression still on his face, Prompto slid back on the bed to scroll through the information a little further. "Did you know," he started, "that I wasn't even on the list to become one of those biotech things we keep fighting?" He held his glass back out to Noctis then, wordlessly asking him for another drink.

Noctis wasn't sure if it was such a good idea, but then, with his own drinking habits lately, who was he was to tell Prompto that he couldn't have another drink? Besides, having his origins, his history, thrown back in his face so much when all he wanted was to escape it? Well, who wouldn't want a drink with that happening? Swallowing back his worries, he took the glass, refilling it and then handing it back to Prompto. He'd only have the one right now, and let Prompto get as drunk as he needed to, to cope with this. He still owed Prompto for taking care of him back on the Citadel, anyway.

"You weren't?" Noctis finally answered Prompto's question, pondering whether or not he should read the documents over Prompto's shoulder.

Prompto answered that question, though, by shaking his head no and leaning a little closer to show Noctis the words as Prompto spoke them. "I was... 'a high potential candidate for the Nemesis line,' which are supposed to be 'genetically superior supersoldiers,' or something. I was 'designed to have high biotic resonance,' and they implanted me with the best implants they out had at the time, right after they recaptured me." He took a long pull from his drink and sighed. "Shows 'em how much they know. Walking malfunction, right?"

Stopping Prompto before he could walk any further into that emotional minefield, Noctis put a hand on his chin to pull his attention from those documents. "You're _not_ a walking malfunction, Prom."

The expression on Prompto's face softened, self-deprecating sarcasm turning to sadness and desperation when he met Noctis' eyes. He blinked slowly, ticking his shoulder up in a shrug and breathing a soft laugh. "I mean, functional people don't get spinal shocks or wobbly legs, do they?" he asked.

Shrugging one shoulder, Noctis released his chin and reached for his drink. "Maybe not," he answered, pausing to take a sip. "But you know what? That just makes you all the more impressive. I mean... look what you've done in spite of that. In spite of all the things they did to you, and what they wanted to make you into, you became so more than that."

Prompto blinked a couple of times, turning his head to look back at his omni-tool. "But I _am_ Cerberus equipment," he muttered, his speech knitting together just slightly.

"No," Noctis answered, his voice a low rumble. "You're not _equipment_. You're Prompto. You're a person. You've never let yourself be defined by all that stuff they did to you. Don't let it start to happen now just because some fucking asshole admiral with a vendetta against me... decided to pursue it through you."

He paused and frowned, realizing the truth behind those words. If Ravus didn't have this vendetta against him, if Ravus wasn't _so determined_ to make them pay for some imaginary unreasonable favor that they didn't even have, Prompto wouldn't have to face people throwing his past in his face like casual conversation. Turning his head, he watched as Prompto stared at him in silent question, wordlessly asking why he was being so quiet.

Noctis frowned. "That's what Ravus is doing," he muttered. "Using your past to get to me."

There were a lot of things that Noctis could take. He could deal with people scrutinizing _him_ , mostly because he didn't have the horrible history that Prompto had. Any criticisms that Ravus or Loqi had for him probably had no basis in reality and were just the two of them being petty and jealous. Over time, they'd probably learned that. Prompto, though, was just as much Noctis' weakness as he was Noctis' strength. As strong as Prompto was, they had a _basis_ to pick on him, and because of that, they were merciless. Because of the fact that Prompto was the one person in the whole galaxy that he wanted to protect more than anyone else, they were using him to get to Noctis.

"Shit," Noctis muttered against his will, staring down into his drink.

Prompto turned to look at him. "Huh?"

Turning to look at Prompto in a jerking motion, Noctis shook his head no. "N-nothing." There was enough on Prompto's plate right now. The last thing he needed was for Noctis to spill and twist all this information to make it about him. Still, the realization that most likely, at least on some level, he was responsible for all the needling into Prompto's past... it was a tough pill to swallow.

So, instead of swallowing that pill, he swallowed the rest of his drink and refilled the glass. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Prompto downing the rest of his drink and holding his glass out. At first, Noctis was hesitant, but eventually, he did refill the glass. Setting the bottle down on his bedside table, he glanced out the window at the stars as the ship passed them.

"Can't believe after all this time... this is how I learn that my mom's dead." Prompto's voice, quiet, strangled, dragged Noctis' attention from the stars as they passed.

Noctis turned to look back at Prompto, watching as he stared at the words on the holographic display, talking about Laeta Argentum; explaining the 'sentence' that Cerberus had delivered for her decision to free Prompto. After they'd recaptured her, she hadn't survived the trip to the facility. Her killer's name, highlighted in orange words in the air, made Noctis blanch.

"Verstael Besithia..." he muttered.

Prompto looked over at him for a second, bright blue eyes shining with tears, then turned to look back at the hologram. "My... my father?" he asked, pausing afterward like the words sounded foreign coming from his mouth. He recovered shortly thereafter, then asked, "what about him?" turning his head back to look at Noctis.

In Noctis' mind, he pieced it together. Verstael Besithia, the man who had freed all of those biotech troopers that killed Cor. The very same Verstael Besithia was the man responsible for Prompto's existence, planned to do terrible things to him after he was born. His mother changed her mind, changed her heart, after he was born and ran away with him. As the documents stated, though, Verstael searched for them for five years. When he finally found them on Garuda... he took Prompto back, and killed Laeta for running away. Each thought made Noctis' heart sink further and further, and by the time he finished his thought process, his own eyes were warm with forming tears.

"Noct?" Prompto asked.

Noctis blinked, debating on whether or not he even wanted to _say_ any of this, but when Prompto looked at him expectantly, inquisitively, he realized that he didn't have much choice. So, he raked his teeth over his lip and swallowed thickly, deciding to be honest, to tell him. "Verstael Besithia... is the name of the guy who released all of those troopers back on Chaos," he explained.

That made Prompto turn his head back toward Noctis sharply. "Huh?" he asked. "What do you-"

Tightening his hands—thankful that the cups on the ship weren't made of glass so his didn't break against the strain—Noctis seethed. "He... back then, I was so worried about getting to you, about making sure you were safe, that I didn't give it a second thought, but I saw him. I thought he looked like you and... and he... I let him go so that we could save you," he murmured.

After that, there was a long silence, during which Noctis beat himself up internally for being the reason that Prompto's father, the man responsible for the hell that had been the first few years of Prompto's life, was still out there walking around. Sure, he'd been under the impression that killing him would end up releasing all the troopers. That only made him angrier, though, because Verstael ended up doing it anyway. And because of that, because of _Verstael_ , Cor was dead.

Once the gears in Prompto's head stopped turning, he blinked. "I... I should probably be upset about that. That he's still out there somewhere," he murmured, eyes shining with tears again. "But... but I think what upsets me _more_ is the fact that Cor died because of him. Cor is dead, a _real_ father figure is gone from my life... _and_ he's still out there somewhere." He paused and glanced at Noctis, blinking hard in a futile attempt to stave his tears.

Noctis didn't need to see anything more. He placed the bottle on the bedside table and with his next movement, he wrapped his arms tightly around Prompto and pulled him close for a tight but gentle hug. "You deserve so much better than them, Prom," he murmured into Prompto's shoulder.

"I got better, Noct," Prompto whispered, his voice shaky as he wrapped his arms around Noctis. "I got better because I have you."

Noctis couldn't resist choking a sob at that. No, he couldn't replace the concept of Prompto having the family he deserved. There was no way that he could ever come close to that. Still, the thought that Prompto felt like he was "better" than that, that he made up for all the sadness that Cerberus had thrown at him? It made a warm feeling bubble up in his chest. He pulled back from the hug and met Prompto's eyes, one hand raising so that his fingertips brushed through Prompto's hair, and rested on his neck.

As Prompto looked back at him, the tiniest smile crossing his face despite everything he'd just learned, Noctis found that against his will, he couldn't keep from saying, "I love you."

The very second the words escaped, though, Noctis realized exactly what he was saying. His brain immediately started screaming at him, asking him what in the hell he thought he was doing. So long. _Years_ hiding his feelings. First, he'd screwed up and kissed Prompto that first time when he was drunk. Then he'd screwed up again and kissed him a second time, when he was trying to fix all the damage that Ravus had done a couple of weeks ago. Now... now, in trying to fix more damage, he exploded his feelings all over Prompto, who was already feeling vulnerable. Was this just how he coped with Prompto's sadness? Threw unwanted confessions at him and made himself look like a mental case?

In an instant, Prompto's expression changed. The tiny smile melted away, replaced with something of an open-mouthed gape. His eyes searched Noctis', and he blinked dumbly. "Okay, so... I know I'm drunk and everything. But I must _really_ be drunk. Either that or that booze is laced with some kind of weird hallucinogenic-" he paused and made a face at how weird that word sounded when he said it in drunk slurs- "but... did you just say what I think you said?"

"It... uh... it depends on what you think I said," Noctis murmured in response, heat rising to his cheeks.

Prompto looked at him expectantly, like that wasn't enough of an answer. Like he wanted Noctis to just come out and tell him what he'd said. He couldn't, though. This wasn't just a normal piece of conversation. It wasn't like he'd slipped up and told Prompto about some surprise party or spoiled the ending of a movie. He'd told Prompto the very thing that he'd been keeping with him since high school.

Shrugging, Prompto asked, "did you just tell me that you... that you love me?" The last bit was strangled out, like he was afraid that the words would be stolen away as soon as he spoke them.

Before Noctis could answer, Prompto blinked a couple of times and muttered, "maybe that window broke and knocked me out and everything that's happened since then was a dream. One of those bad dreams turning really, really good situations," under his breath. It was almost funny, how his words slurred together still. Funny, but nerve-wracking. His cheeks turned pink, bringing out the freckles on his face and making Noctis want to lean forward and kiss them.

This wasn't making the situation any easier. Noctis kept his eyes locked on Prompto's, before reaching his fingers up and pinching Prompto in the bicep. Maybe the pinch was a little harder than was necessary—actually, it definitely was, if the way Prompto recoiled and almost spilled the remainder of the purple booze in his cup onto the bed was any indication—but it was one of those 'proof you're not dreaming' pinches. Why he did it, he didn't know. Maybe he could have gotten out of the situation by letting Prompto believe that he _was_ dreaming, or letting him think that he was drunk enough to have imagined the confession. But it was too late for that now.

Prompto hissed in response, punching Noctis lightly in the shoulder. "Ow! 'The hell was that for?" he asked incredulously.

Noctis bit his lip, shrugging his head to the side. "It's, um... it's proof that you're not dreaming. Or, you know... too drunk to feel a pinch. Or hallucinating," he murmured with an awkward laugh, casting his eyes toward the headboard of the bed, then down to their pillows. "I... yeah, Prom. I said I love you." His voice was shaky and nervous. "'Cause I do."

Finally, Noctis allowed himself to look back up at Prompto, who was looking at him with that same stunned expression on his face. Stunned, surprised, but... not sad. There was still a little bit of that underlying sadness that came with all of the information he'd learned that day, but breaking through that was that same expression, that same happiness that Prompto had worn on his face right before Noctis had kissed him the second time. He was a little surprised when, just like that second kiss, Prompto reached a hand up and brushed Noctis' hair from his eyes.

Silence still strangled the room, Prompto wasn't speaking, wasn't responding, but was looking at him instead, blue eyes appraising his expression. Leaning in, Prompto captured Noctis' lips in a kiss. It was tender and hungry at the same time, and tasted like a mix of that asari booze and Prompto's own lips. While they kissed, Prompto leaned over and put his drink on the end table, before placing a hand on either side of Noctis' face and tilting his head up to kiss him harder.

It stole the breath right from Noctis' lungs. Compared to all of the times they _usually_ kissed in this bed, this particular kiss was chaste. Soft, gentle, and it still felt _amazing_ , but this wasn't one of those kisses with the intent to lead somewhere else. This was just a happy kiss. A gentle one. When it broke, Prompto met his eyes and allowed a smile to creep its way across his face.

Noctis swallowed thickly, his hands finding their way to Prompto's waist as their foreheads leaned together. "Wow," he whispered, huffing a laugh and blinking dumbly. None of the times they'd kissed had been even _remotely_ like that one.

It seemed like Prompto felt much the same. "Yeah," he breathed.

While it was incredible, while it felt _absolutely amazing_ and made his heart flutter in his chest like someone had replaced it with a bird or a butterfly or something, made his body tingle like he was using his biotics when he knew that he wasn't, it wasn't a return confession. Maybe he'd gotten his hopes up too much. Maybe he'd been right, thinking it was crazy that someone as amazing as Prompto would love him back. Maybe it-

"I love you, too," Prompto finally spoke.

And at that, all other thoughts drained from his mind. Noctis blinked twice, his lips curling into a smile that he could _tell_ was way bigger than his usual smiles. His face stretched in a way that was unfamiliar to him, and he probably looked ridiculous and stupid right then, but he couldn't have cared less. In fact, all he cared about at _all_ was the sound of those words echoing around in his mind. He brought a hand up to touch Prompto's face, his thumb running along the smooth, but red and freckled, skin of Prompto's cheek. "You do?" he asked.

Prompto nodded. "I have since... _gods_ , since I was, like... sixteen." He laughed a soft and sheepish laugh, the red on his cheeks deepening even more.

"Really?" Noctis asked, his own mouth quirking to a smile.

With a nod, Prompto chuckled, embarrassed. "Y-yeah," he admitted. "It, uh... it was was after school. We went to the ramen place and then to our spot. And the maintenance guy came up and almost caught us there, remember?" He worried one side of his lip between his teeth. "We ran all the way across the ducts. Through the doors and out to the roof of that weird business complex? And we hid in that broom closet until he left?"

"For, like... half an hour, yeah," Noctis laughed softly.

Prompto nodded. "You kept looking around the corner, but every time you did, I would watch you, look at you, and... and I realized it. That I loved you, and that literally the only thing in the galaxy—in the _universe_ —I wanted was to be with you and make you happy. Keep you laughing the way you laughed when we were running away." He swallowed nervously, peering at Noctis through a curtain of blond hair and too-perfect eyelashes.

Noctis smirked, leaning in close to Prompto's hear and whispering. "You know what's funny?" he asked.

"What?" Prompto's reply was a little breathy, a little shuddered, but no less the soft happiness that he'd been feeling moments ago.

With a little smile, Noctis told him, "that's exactly when I fell for you, too. When we were cramped in that small space, and I looked across at you, and we laughed to ourselves because that rude turian couldn't find us? That was when I knew." His whole face was burning up; he didn't usually say things like this, after all. The booze helped, let him say things that he didn't usually say. But he didn't regret it.

Prompto turned his face and kissed him. "Sounds like we have a lot of lost time to make up for, then," he whispered.

"Tons. You think we'll remember this tomorrow?" Noctis asked with a soft smirk.

Nodding in response, Prompto breathed in a soft and slow breath. "There's no way I'll forget." This time, he didn't slur. If not for the slightly half-lidded eyes and the booze on his breath, Noctis wouldn't have known he was drunk. "And if I do... just tell me again. Please. Tell me as many times as you want to. Okay?"

The genuine earnestness of the request took Noctis off guard, but he nodded in response. That was one request that he would _definitely_ not have a problem agreeing to.


	18. Whiplash

Noctis loved him. Noctis _loved_ him. It had been three days since Noctis told him, and for the most part, they'd been inseparable ever since. As much as they could be, anyway. There was still Noctis' work, and Prompto had taken to filling his days by helping Cindy down in the engine room, or sometimes he hung around in Luna's office, learning medical things from her. After telling her that he wanted to learn to be a combat medic, to be able to help Ignis when things got tough, she'd been incredibly proud and incredibly happy. She'd also been more than willing to help him learn.

It wasn't all perfect. As much as he loved this new found situation with Noctis, there was still all that new information they'd found on Kadru. There was still the knowledge that he had a brother out there, that his biological father had wanted to make him into some sort of biotic super soldier to use for gods only knew what. That his biological father had been the one who had killed Cor.

For the most part, though, he was okay.

Part of him wished that there was more information on the files. That there was more than just 'Laeta took Prompto, so we killed her.' He knew, though, that hoping for something like that was unrealistic. Hoping for a magic answer for everything when he'd just started getting answers to _anything_ wasn't realistic. For now, Prompto resolved himself to stop focusing the energy he'd been wasting on people who didn't deserve him, and put that energy into his relationship with Noctis instead.

His relationship with Noctis. Just the _thought_ made a smile spread across Prompto's face as he helped Luna organize her shelves. This wasn't really combat medicine, but if he wanted to _get_ to the point where he could learn combat medicine, Luna needed organized shelves. That was what she'd said. In the back of Prompto's mind, he was fully aware that it was probably just a way to get him to help her clean her office, but that was fine. Luna had earned help. For all of the things she'd done for the crew, for Prompto personally, she deserved more than just having Prompto do a little bit of organization work.

Prompto hummed a tune as he gathered a few folders on words he'd never heard. Weird things like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, spasmodic torticollis, and nosocomial infection... that probably would have made his head spin off its axis if he wasn't on cloud nine. Hell, could _ten_ , even. As it stood, though, he blinked at the page, but continued humming a tune—something he'd heard in a commercial during their last shore leave, some jingle for a chocobo ranch on a small colony, that he couldn't get out of his head—and then turned his head toward Luna once he finished.

"Files, filed. What's next?" he asked her.

Luna looked at him, blinking twice and walking over to the shelf and looking through the files. "I can't remember the last time I saw you this _happy_ ," she mused, changing the order of a few of the files, and then turning her body toward Prompto to flash him a smirk. "I quite enjoy it. Humming songs and organizing files. I know you've had development in your relationship with Noctis, but I never expected that-"

The wry smile that crossed Prompto's face then had Luna trailing off mid-sentence and tilting her head, trying to appraise Prompto and figure out why he looked like he was coming straight out of a teen romance movie. She stopped him when it appeared that he was going to move toward another shelf, and quirked her eyebrow. "If you don't tell me why you look like a tiny cartoon bluebird is going to fly through space, just to get into my office and land on your shoulder, I will be forced to tell Nyx that you've gone certifiable, and I don't want that any more than you do," she teased.

At first, Prompto just laughed. Of course, Luna would catch on. It wasn't exactly like he was subtle, anyway, and Luna heard all the details when he was in anything less than a good mood. Naturally, when he was in a good mood, she'd pick right up on that, too. At first, he considered playing it coy. But Luna, more than anyone, deserved to heard the words straight from one of them. She'd listened to more than her fair share—more than _anyone's_ fair share, really—of complaints about how he would malfunction if Noctis didn't love him back. Complaints that, as it turned out, were baseless. Just the thought made him smile wider. So, no. He wouldn't play it coy.

"He loves me, Luna," Prompto announced, the smile on his face growing as the words escaped. "He told me he loves me. That he loves me and that he's loved me for a long time and... and why are you smiling like that?" He blinked, watching as Luna's expression went from a smile to a smirk, and then she pulled him to her in a hug.

It was surprising, that the first sound he heard when she hugged him was a laugh, soft and gentle. She squeezed him as tightly as her arms would allow, and murmured, " _finally,_ " into the air behind his back.

Prompto blinked. Had she misunderstood him or something? Had she thought that Prompto had been the one brave enough to speak up and confess his feelings? It was a reasonable mistake, he supposed. With anyone else, she probably would have been right. "No, I didn't say I told him," he chuckled, hugging her back and shaking his head when he pulled back. "He told me."

Luna nodded, though. "I heard you," she mused through smiling lips. "And once again, I say, finally." After a pause, when her smile turned to a smirk, she continued. "I've listened to the pair of you talk about how much you love each other, but how much you've been afraid of the other's rejection, for the better part of five years, Prompto. So, yes, I said and meant finally." She squeezed his shoulder and nodded once.

Laughing sheepishly, Prompto ducked his head and glanced at the metallic floor of the med bay. Of course, Noctis had confided in Luna, too. "I still don't feel like it's real," he admitted. "I look at him and I see everything I've ever wanted, and the fact that I... apparently kind of have it now?" The surprise was evident in the way that what should have been a statement was phrased as a question. "But... it's real. It's really real. I wake up beside him in the morning. I go to sleep in his room at night. My best friend is my boyfriend, and I am the happiest person in the galaxy. In the universe."

They'd never really said as much; never really said 'boyfriend,' or anything, but it almost felt like they didn't need to. They acted like it, they still slept in the same bed every night, and that was all that Prompto really needed. Noctis spent so much more time smiling lately. Granted, that was primarily because he was drinking a lot more, and a niggling voice in the back corner of Prompto's mind couldn't help but wonder if the only reason that they _were_ the way they were was because of that. If what Luna was saying was true, though, Noctis had been coming to her for years, saying the same things Prompto had. So, maybe the booze was just giving him enough courage to say something?

It wasn't like Prompto could exactly deny the booze's influence in his bravery that night, either. So, so what if Noctis had needed a little help? So what if he needed a little help to get through his days recently? He'd had a lot of new pressures thrown at him, what with Ravus and Loqi always on his ass.

"So," Prompto started, forcing those thoughts out of his mind, "he's really loved me for five years, too?"

With a warm and fond smile, Luna nodded, walking over to her desk. "He's more stubborn than you are, too. I think there was a time a year or so ago, when he came to my office almost every day." She sat at her desk, and gestured for Prompto to take a seat. Crossing her left leg over her right, she leaned back in her chair and chuckled fondly.

Prompto half-laughed. "So, all those times you told me to tell him because you knew he wouldn't reject me... you weren't just saying it to be nice?" It was and wasn't a question. Honestly, he should have known that, too. Luna wasn't the type to make things up, or to throw platitudes out just to make someone feel better. She was an honest person.

So, when she shook her head, he wasn't surprised. "Of course I wasn't," she insisted. "And as much as I love the both of you, listening to and watching you dance around each other was just _so frustrating_ to me. I would lay with Nyx at night, talking about how, as much as I love you boys, I wanted to lock you in the janitorial closet until you came to your senses."

"If we were so frustrating, why did you never... you know, explode and tell one of us?" Prompto asked as he hopped up onto one of the med bay beds and made himself comfortable. Granted, nothing could beat the feeling of hearing Noctis say the words, so while a part of him wished that he'd known earlier, he was also glad that Luna _hadn't_ done that. "I bet Nyx told you to."

She nodded and chuckled fondly. "Many times, actually," she mused. "He said that if I didn't, he would. But I pleaded with him not to. It's one of those things that, as much as I wished that I _could_ tell you, I knew that you would never have believed me. Noctis either, honestly. You were both content to sit there and stew, pine for each other like a pair of characters from a teen movie." While she rolled her eyes, a smile spread across her face that completely belied any anger she might have been feeling.

It was an appropriate enough description of how Prompto felt, honestly. Whatever was going on, Noctis could lift his mood with just a smile, or make his insides twist with just a glance. The way he'd felt, how long he'd been in love, it _was_ almost like something out of a cheesy teen movie. He loved it, though. He wouldn't have changed it if he could. The only thing he _might_ have changed was his own level of bravery, so that maybe they could've gotten to this point sooner. It was okay, though, because they were here now, and they had the rest of their lives to make up for lost time. Prompto didn't plan to let Noctis go for anything.

"I'm sorry," he told Luna. "I know that I confided in you a lot, and-"

She shook her head and chuckled softly, pushing a few strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. "Don't apologize. As frustrating as it was to watch you dance around each other, I completely understand why you were nervous. You may be strong, but you have a lot of factors that keep you from feeling that you can show that strength." With a smirk, she turned her eyes to him again. "Hopefully this will help you trust me a little more, when I tell you how easy it is for you to get what you want."

Prompto was about to respond; was about to tell Luna that it definitely didn't hurt, when Nyx's voice came over the intercom and called the ground team to the war room. Prompto, whose mouth had opened to speak, sucked in an audible breath and held his index finger up in the air. "I guess my combat medicine lesson is on hold?" he chuckled softly.

Nodding, Luna shrugged her head to the side. "If you want to come down after the briefing, I can teach you some basics. Unless Ravus wants you to check something he thinks you missed on that last mission, anywhere we're going, it will be at least a day or so away." Her smile was kind, but there was a bitter tinge behind it. Prompto knew that the situation with Ravus weighed on her a lot, so it made perfect sense.

Considering how difficult a subject it was for Luna to talk about, Prompto didn't bring it up. Maybe he would later. Luna helped him through his problems enough to be double paid as an onboard psychiatrist, so the least he could do was listen to her in return; to try, in his probably ineffective way, to help her feel better about the situation with her brother. For now, though, he pushed himself down from the med bay's bed and walked across the short distance to stop in front of her. Leaning down, he wrapped her in a tight hug and grunted a soft and happy noise.

"I know I don't tell you enough, but I really appreciate you always being there, Luna. Listening to me babble, even when it would've probably been easier to tell Noct everything yourself. You really are the best." His voice was soft, but with how tightly he hugged her, there was no question as to whether or not she heard him.

Especially not if the way she hugged him back was any indication. "I'm always here for you, Prompto. You and Noctis both. You're my family." She placed her hand on one of his cheeks and kissed the other, tapping her fingers against his jaw. "I'm proud of you. For how you're handling everything that's been thrown at you lately."

Honestly, as much as Prompto was embarrassed to say it, the swell of pride that took him over when Luna showed him a simple expression of pride was impossible to ignore. It wasn't like he didn't think that the others were proud of him. They were. He knew it without them saying it. Hearing _Luna_ say it, though, made his smile slightly more bashful.

"Hey," he muttered as he released her from the hug, "if nothing else, I'm finding out about me. Y'know? All the stuff I never knew. So, I think it's okay. It sucks, but it's okay."

Luna's fond smile made Prompto smile even wider in return. "Ever the optimist," she responded. "Go on. I'll check the extranet for things we can use to teach you some combat medicine. I'm pretty sure I have some dummies in storage, too, for you to practice on, so by the time you finish up there, things will be ready down here." She motioned toward the door as she spoke.

With a smile and a final shared 'see you later,' Prompto turned on his heel and headed toward the elevator. Up to the CIC, and then into the war room he went. Noctis and Nyx stood, looking over some maps, and the pair of them each had a dismal expression on their faces. It was Nyx who looked up first, and when he spotted Prompto, he nudged Noctis in the rib cage with his elbow and pointed Prompto's way. Already, Prompto didn't like the looks of this. Even less so when, even after Gladio and Ignis came into the room right behind Prompto, Noctis walked past them and approached Prompto with that same dismal expression on his face.

"Okay, so, we're called up here for debriefing, and what... I get a separate one from Specs and the Big Guy or something?" Prompto asked Noctis with a little half-smile. One that wasn't quite genuine; didn't quite reach his eyes.

The expression that Noctis responded with only made him all the more uneasy, but when his boyfriend nodded at him, he realized that whatever the reason for the separate debriefing was, it was a pretty serious one. "Yeah. It's, uh..." Dark eyes glanced down at a shining orange omni-tool, and the light reflected from Noctis' face like a gentle nightlight. After a couple of seconds, it didn't look like Noctis was going to answer, so Prompto walked around him and glanced at the omni-tool instead.

Displayed on the holographic interface was information on a long-since abandoned Cerberus facility. The facility was located on Titan, in the Archean Cluster. Compared to the places they'd been last, they had an alarming amount of information on this particular facility. It had been closed for almost ten years now, ever since Alliance Command had sent a special tactics squad, fronted by Regis Lucis Caelum...

"Oh..."

Prompto understood now. He understood exactly why Noctis and Nyx had been looking at him like they thought the news was going to break him. Those same looks were transferred to Ignis and Gladio now, too. Concern lined Ignis' eyes when he looked Prompto over, and as much as Prompto wished that he could say that the concern was unnecessary, the realization that they were going to the very facility that he'd been held captive for five years said otherwise. He twisted his expression into an attempt at calm, flashing Ignis a weak, shell of a smile; a feeble attempt to ease his friend's mind.

The way Noctis was looking at him, too, was both a comfort and the slightest bit saddening. Noctis was concerned. Prompto turned to meet his eyes. "This is where..." he murmured, the trailed off, unspoken, half-question serving as a feeble attempt to confirm what he was already pretty sure he knew.

His boyfriend's head bobbed up and down in a dismal confirmation. "Yeah," he answered. "Loqi told us that there's some sensitive intel in the heart of the facility. Stuff on why Cerberus is suddenly everywhere we turn." The tone in Noctis' voice suggested that he wasn't entirely sure he believed that, and Prompto couldn't help but let out a soft sigh in response to that fact.

"Okay. But why'd you have to come over here and tell me alone?" Prompto asked, gesturing over to the rest of the team.

Sighing a deep and heavy sigh, Noctis put his omni-tool away and placed a hand on each of Prompto's shoulders. "Because," he started, "Nyx wanted to ask me if you were going to be okay for this one." Before Prompto could open his mouth to argue, Noctis continued. "Not just because of where it's located. But because..." His voice trailed off just slightly, and he let out a soft sigh.

Because? Prompto liked the sound of that even less than he liked the implication that he wouldn't be okay to go on this mission. "Because..." he urged.

Noctis heaved a deeper sigh this time, a dramatic noise, one that Prompto had heard many, many times—usually when Noctis had to eat something that he didn't like, or when someone was beating him in a game or a contest, but not this time—and continued. "Ravus is coming with us," he explained. "He's got his ship orbiting, waiting for us. And he's bringing Loqi."

It was impossible to prevent the grimace that crossed Prompto's face at that revelation. "Both of them?" he murmured. If they were orbiting, why couldn't they just go? The question was on the tip of Prompto's tongue, but he didn't ask it.

"Yeah," Noctis answered. "I guess them waiting there is way, way better than us having them staying on the ship with us, though. Can you imagine?"

Prompto huffed a laugh at that thought. "I can't go back to sleeper pods, after spending so much time sleeping in your bed. Call me spoiled," he smirked, reaching an arm out and pulling Noctis close to him by the hip.

When Noctis' only response, at first, was to snake his arms around Prompto's waist and pull him even closer, concern lining his eyes, Prompto couldn't help but quirk a curious expression. Noctis swallowed, Prompto could almost see the lump as it moved its way down his throat, and placed one of his hands on the small of Prompto's back. "Nyx and I were thinking," he started. "You don't have to come on this one, if you don't want to."

"Huh?" Prompto asked, blinking a couple of times. "What do you-"

With a shake of his head, Noctis pushed some of Prompto's hair from his face. "Not because we don't think you'll be helpful. You will. We need you. But," he murmured, "we just don't want you to feel like you-"

Prompto shook his head vehemently. "No way," he answered simply. "Dude. There's like, zero chance in the _galaxy_ that I'm sending you down there without me, with Ravus and Loqi there. There's no way." He huffed a soft laugh and smiled weakly. "Just... I'm fine, Noct," he promised.

"Are you sure?"

The only response he gave was a nod.

While he wasn't exactly sure if he was being honest; if he really _was_ fine, the only way he could ever _be_ fine about it was to face it. If that meant that he had to walk back into the lion's den, the place Noctis' dad had saved him from when he was a kid? Then he would motivate himself using the reminder that it was the only way that he could keep Noctis safe. If it meant forcing himself to do a mission with Ravus and Loqi with the team, then it just meant that he had to keep an eye on them. Regardless of what they thought of him, they were Alliance personnel. That, regardless of their feelings on the group, they had their best interests at heart.

It wasn't exactly easy to sell himself on it, but at the very least, he'd managed to do it. If there were any problems, well... he'd deal with them later.

"So," he stated simply, "what intel do we have on the place?"


	19. Safeguard

If they'd thought that the facility they'd been in before, on Kadru, was eerie, this took on a whole new level of eeriness. It was fortunate that the planet itself was habitable, because as Ignis drove the shuttle closer to the drop zone, he had noticed that many of the windows were shattered with overgrown foliage. The building itself was two stories above ground, but the bioscans that Ignis had taken of the facility from a distance indicated that there were two sub-basements. Four floors of Prompto's personal hell. Four floors where, whether Prompto admitted it or not, Noctis had to worry about his boyfriend's well-being.

At the very least, it had been alarmingly easy to convince Ravus and Loqi that the team needed to stick together. In the initial debriefing, Ravus had tried to insist that they split into groups of four and three, but Nyx had insisted _very_ adamantly that the team was not going to split up again, if they didn't have to. That no one was to be left alone, or shorthanded. After the promise that he would go over Ravus' head and report him to Alliance Command, Ravus finally agreed. He hadn't seemed happy about it, no, but he'd agreed.

It was a good thing, too, because this gave Noctis the chance to protect Prompto the whole time. They stepped out of the shuttle in front of the facility, and Noctis watched as Prompto looked around. A part of him wondered if Prompto remembered anything about this place. He was ten when they freed him. Depending on how conscious he'd been when Noctis' dad had saved him, it was entirely possible that he'd remember everything. He took a couple of steps toward where Prompto stood, frozen in place as he stared up at the building. Noctis reached up, a dark blue armed hand raising to touch Prompto's green armed shoulder, and a weak smile crossed his face.

"Are you okay?" Noctis asked.

Prompto didn't answer that question. Instead, he kept his eyes on the building in front of him. "I remember this place," he spoke in a faraway voice. "I remember being hazy from the tranq they gave me when they brought me in when I was five, but seeing the trees and thinking that they looked like something out of a storybook." He huffed a humorless laugh. "And then when I was ten, I remember that the top floor of the building was on fire. But I couldn't see much. Because I had my head buried in your dad's shoulder most of the time."

Noctis removed one of his gauntlets, then raised his fingers to move some hair from Prompto's eyes. "Hey," he called Prompto's attention again, and he repeated his earlier question; "Are you okay?" His fingertips came to rest on Prompto's cheek, and one thumb smoothed along his chin.

Breathing a soft sigh, Prompto shook his head no. "Not really. I mean... I'm here again. You know? But at the same time," he leaned gently into Noctis' hand, and shrugged his head to the side. "I'm not that. Like you said. And like _I_ said, I got better than what they wanted to give me, because I got you." His tone was genuine, even though sadness still lined his eyes.

"Not just that," Noctis added, hesitantly pulling his hand back from Prompto's face and sliding it into his gauntlet. "But you're even _more_ of a badass now than you were before. Do I need to remind you about-"

Prompto held his index finger up. "Dude. If you mention the thresher maw again, I'll roll my eyes and walk away." Despite his words, his smile became a little bit more honest and he met Noctis' eyes. The amused expression there completely belied any seriousness to his words, and served to tell Noctis that bringing up the thresher maw _did_ actually make him feel better.

Before Noctis could point out that he was smiling, he heard the telltale clack of armored feet walking across metal, signifying that Ravus and Loqi had arrived. Noctis could almost _feel_ Prompto's aura change. He tensed physically, but it also almost felt like an aura of tension radiated from him in waves. Not just him, either. Noctis, too, felt tense, and one look at the rest of their team as they pored over Nyx's omni-tool showed that they were reasonably tense, as well. The fact that Ravus and Loqi walked past them, not saying a word, not even passing them a glance until they got to the door, did nothing to ease that tension.

Noctis couldn't help the instinct to position himself between Prompto and where Ravus and Loqi stood. Maybe the protection was unnecessary, but he couldn't fight back the instinct. He heard footsteps and felt Prompto moving closer to him, to stand on his left side. Despite wanting to protect Prompto, the fact that Prompto was confident to stand with him, side by side, to face people who intimidated him? Well, it made Noctis proud.

"What are we standing around for?" Ravus asked, finally breaking his silence and turning to look throughout the group like he was looking at a group of rowdy children. It was surprising. Even _Ravus_ looked a bit apprehensive to go into this facility. He examined the door while he waited for everyone to get to it, then turned to Loqi.

For Loqi's part, it looked almost like he was _anticipating_ getting in there. He almost looked _excited_ , and it was a little bit unnerving. A lot unnerving, actually. Noctis and Prompto got to the doors last, Prompto still standing on Noctis' left, and trying to portray confidence. His eyes settled upon Loqi, and the way _Loqi's_ eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked over the blueprints.

As Nyx walked up to the door console, calling his omni-tool and trying to hack it open, Loqi turned to Ignis. "Have you gotten a bioscan, Scientia?" he asked.

Ignis nodded his head. "Multiple life forms inside, on all floors. None of them are remotely shaped like humans, however. Varying in size. Wildlife, I suspect." He called up a visual of his bioscans on his omni-tool and showed it to Loqi. However, before he could turn completely, he stopped and blinked. "Wait. This wasn't there before..."

"What wasn't there before?" Gladio asked, walking up behind Ignis and looking over his shoulder.

Pointing with the opposite hand to a bioscan that was larger than the small wildlife creatures throughout the rest of the facility, Ignis hummed thoughtfully. "I'm fairly certain that that's a person. It doesn't have the same cool body-heat readings as a biotech soldier, but... a person here. How could they have escaped my bioscans until now?"

Loqi quirked a shrug. "Faulty equipment?" he asked, and Noctis could tell that he was barely fighting back a grin.

Once again, Noctis found himself wanting nothing more than to cross the small space between them and punch Loqi in the face, but a pointed look from Gladio forced him to stop. Instead, he merely pointed out that, "I don't know. Seems likelier that they just weren't there when you took your scans. Or that they were cloaked somehow."

As expected, it didn't seem like Loqi appreciated having the flaw in his logic pointed out. He made a face, all curled lip and narrowed eyes, at Noctis, then huffed an annoyed sound. "I'm glad you're confident in your knowledge of sensitive situations, Caelum, but don't forget that when speaking to your superior officers, honorifics would be proper." It was spoken like a suggestion, but with a very chastising tone, like he was talking to a child.

"In the same manner which you address Admiral Nox Fleuret, then?" Ignis asked, an eyebrow cocked.

Leave it to Ignis to get under Loqi's skin. That was something that Noctis had always loved about his friend. Noctis managed a grin at that, then spared a glance over to where Nyx had just finished hacking the door console. Nyx cleared his throat loudly and beckoned for everyone to come to the door. "I got through. So, if you can all stop bickering, please, we can get this over and done with?" His glare was on Loqi specifically, his lip curled in annoyance.

Ravus stepped forward, brushing past Ignis and Gladio and glaring at Nyx once he arrived at the door. "It's good to see that there's _some_ thing that you can hack, at least," he mocked.

That made Noctis' hackles rise immediately. It was, of course, a reference to the Cerberus probe. The probe that both Ignis and Nyx were working _tirelessly_ to hack into. At first, Noctis found himself physically biting down any commentary, especially after he saw the flashes of fury cross Nyx and Ignis' faces. When he was about to open his mouth to speak, though, Prompto placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing and cautioning against it with a glance. Pressing his lips together, he cast his eyes to the ground and nodded a subtle nod at his boyfriend.

"If that's enough dilly-dallying for you all, I believe your captain requested that we... how did he say it? Get this over and done with?" Ravus taunted again. "My intel says that the information we need is on the bottom floor."

Gladio eyed Ravus suspiciously, quirking his head to the side and cocking an eyebrow. "Our intel didn't say anything about where the information would be," he murmured. "I mean, you send us everything you had, right?"

The expression on Gladio's face was a familiar one. Well, equal parts familiar and unfamiliar. Gladio's people sense was pretty good. He could always tell when something was off. When there was a 'wrong chord' struck, Gladio was always the first to notice it. This, Noctis could tell, was one of those situations. As he and Ravus exchanged glances—Ravus' appraising, Gladio's questioning—Noctis could feel a mountain of tension building. Tension, with Gladio, was probably bad. Because if it mounted too high, he more than likely _would_ end up punching Ravus.

"We got intel after our communications finished, Amicitia. Do we have a problem?" Ravus asked. "Or are we able to get in there so that we can go on with our lives?"

Everyone went quiet, and Noctis turned to Prompto. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a similar moment of silent communication going on between Ignis and Gladio, but Noctis watched as Prompto raked his teeth over his lip. A comforting hand went to Prompto's shoulder; a subtle attempt at a soothing gesture, and they moved toward the door. Each member of the Regalia's ground team went to proper breaching position, but in a movement that was equal parts surprising and concerning, Ravus simply pushed the mechanism to open the door, completely circumventing all of their tactical planning. There was a brief moment where everyone exchanged looks, and Nyx simply shrugged through the wary expression on his face and followed them through the door.

The unease that Noctis felt outside the building was only worse once they got inside. Char marks coated the walls, from the floor to the ceiling. There were scorch marks in various places on the floor, likely from grenades or just general fires that took place when the Alliance had raided the facility so many years ago. Rust coated the walls and the floors, and several spots were rusted clean through. Tables were overturned, long-dead consoles were knocked down, branches and ivy grew in through the walls... Noctis, though he followed close behind Ignis and Gladio, turned to look at Prompto.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

Prompto, though likely trying to wear a brave face so that Ravus and Loqi wouldn't be able to poke at anything, was breathing heavy, shaky breaths and looking around the main hall like it was the very epicenter of his nightmares. Given where they were standing, it very well might have been. Noctis hung back to where Prompto had stopped, staring at an open hole in the wall, and out at the wildly vegetated Titan horizon.

"I watched Cor put that hole in the wall," Prompto murmured, just as Noctis arrived at his side. "A few mechs were chasing your dad and his crew to the door. Your dad was carrying me. Cor threw a grenade that landed under an Atlas' foot, and it blew up. Strong enough to take that whole wall with it. I remember being so scared of how loud it was, but your dad said 'it's okay, child. You're safe now.' And I..." His voice trailed off, and he looked down at the floor.

Later, Noctis resolved, he would have to call and give proper thanks for the fact that without his dad, he may have never met Prompto. He owed his dad everything in the world. An armed hand raised to clasp Prompto's shoulder, and Noctis pulled him in for a hug. It was far looser than the hug he _wanted_ to give. He wanted to take Prompto in his arms and hug him tightly, remind him a thousand times that he was so much better than this place. With Ravus and Loqi around, though, this was the most he could do and it was killing him.

As if to prove his point, Ravus' voice echoed out through the open space of the main hall. "Caelum! Argentum! We're not here to take in the scenery!"

Though his eyes narrowed in Ravus' direction, Noctis huffed an annoyed sigh and turned back to glance at Prompto. "The sooner we get to where we need to go, the sooner we can go back home, right? Let's go." It was hard to keep his voice level; hard to tell Prompto to face this. Part of Noctis wished that he'd just taken the out back on the ship; stayed where it was safe. At the same time, though, he understood why Prompto didn't want to.

Prompto took off in a jog toward the rest of the team, pointedly ignoring looking at anyone else in the room. As he jogged, he called up his drone, and Noctis recognized the soft purple glow it gave off as the sign of video mode. Smart. Anything that happened here, especially the level of suspicion that Ravus and Loqi were currently giving off, was worthy of video. Noctis hurried up behind the rest of the group, and when they walked into the halls, the unsettled feeling that Noctis had felt all along multiplied by three. The overgrown foliage, combined with the damage from the fighting that had happened here years ago, had rusted the floor; made it barely safe to walk. Each of them had to walk it one by one, and it creaked and protested with each step that each person took.

Ravus went first, and insisted that Loqi went next. Each person who crossed the floor saw it creaking more and more, and after Nyx crossed, Ravus motioned for Noctis to go next. As soon as the motion escaped, the low pitched growling of some of the animals that had taken up residence in the building—some sort of canine or feline growl, Noctis thought—caught his attention.

"I can go last, it's fine," Noctis insisted, planning to suggest that Prompto go next. He was light. If he went across now, it wouldn't do any damage to the structure of the creaky floor.

It seemed, however, like Ravus wasn't willing to entertain the idea. "Captain first, XO next. Then the strategist. Then the muscle." When he finished, his eyes fell upon Prompto. "I'm sure you have no objections."

All Prompto did at first was blink, but after a couple of seconds passed, he glanced at Noctis and urged him along. "It's okay," he insisted. "He's right. It makes sense." There was a layer to his tone, of course. A layer that suggested that he knew exactly how much Noctis hated this, and exactly how it was supposed to sound to him.

They were trying to tell him that, in the grand scheme of things, he was expendable. That he didn't matter as much as the others did. Whether or not Prompto saw the truth (or lack thereof) in it, he wasn't arguing. As much as Noctis understood the motives—he'd probably have done the same if roles were reversed, in fact, he'd _tried_ to ensure that Prompto cross first—he didn't like it. He hated it, in fact. He hated every second of it.

What choice did he really have, though? Whether he liked it or not, it was an order from his commanding officer. He had no choice. As he gave in to the demand, though, he cast Ravus a glare. Stepping out onto the creaky floor, which protested even more against his steps, Noctis took care. The metallic creaks were only drowned out by the growls, coming from a dark room on the right. The growls sounded feline, Noctis noted as he stepped his foot down, attempting—and utterly failing—to avoid the creaking bits of the floor. Angry and feline. Like the crew was stepping into the territory of whatever cat was living there.

Noctis crossed the stretch of floor safely, as did Ignis—though he was ever-cautious—and then Gladio. Each time, and _especially_ when Gladio's turn came, the floor creaked more and more. Gladio managed to stay mostly on structurally sound bits, but regardless, the cracks in the rusted floor grew ever larger. This was exactly the situation that Noctis had feared.

"Are you coming, Argentum?" Loqi looked on Prompto with a challenging expression on his face.

For a second, Noctis considered telling Prompto that he didn't have to come. That he could wait there. But was that really better? This place was the personification of everything horrible that had ever happened to Prompto in his life. Being alone here... who knew what that would do to him? Noctis opened his mouth to speak, but as he did, Prompto braced his hand on the right wall and started across the rusty fissure.

At first, it looked like everything would be fine. Prompto was small. Lighter than Noctis. While the floor still strained under his weight, it seemed like it strained a little less than when Gladio walked. Prompto stepped over the cracks in the rust, and then when his armored boot landed on the ground on the other side, the responding creak was drowned out by the sound of a deafening hiss coming from the room on Prompto's right with whatever that feline was inside. Prompto jumped—likely against his will—but braced himself against the wall and moved to take another step. Before he could move, though, in a blur of motion, a giant, tan, feline jumped out from the room on his right.

Simultaneously, Prompto threw a biotic blast with his right hand and stumbled to his left. As soon as he hit the ground, however, the rusty floor broke under the strain. The cat landed on the other side of the hallway, and Prompto crashed through the busted floor, falling down to the level below and taking large pieces of rusty metal with him.

"Prompto!" Noctis called out, hurrying forward to lean into the fissure to try and spot his boyfriend.

He made it a single step, before the cat leaped forward, charged giant whiskers raised in the air above it. Noctis dodged as quickly as he could, sending a throw field out to toss the cat backward and away from him. The whiskers came down before the purple throw field impacted, narrowly missing striking Gladio. Loqi fired a pistol round into the cat's shoulder, but the cat wasn't to be taken down that easily. It lunged again, and were it not for a quick move and a block from Gladio's shield, it would have pummeled Noctis straight to the ground.

Ravus fired a concussive round, downing the creature, and seconds later Ignis trapped it in a stasis field. Nyx, from a few steps back, fired a sniper round into the cat's head, and then the creature slumped to the ground, dead. Its screech sent off a chorale of similar screeches throughout the facility, the sound hitting Noctis' ears like nails on a chalkboard.

The shock did, however, bring him back to reality.

"Prompto!" Noctis shouted again, crawling on his hands and knees to get to the giant hole in the ground. There was no movement, no motion on the floor beneath him. No light, even. He couldn't even see Prompto's suit lights, which was a frightening development. "Prompto?" he called again.

After a beat, which was the _longest_ beat that Noctis had ever lived through in his life, Prompto called down from below. "I-I'm fine," his voice echoed up from below, the quake of fear dripping from the words. "I... I hit the ground kinda hard, but I put up a biotic bubble and it kinda broke my fall. Probably would've been a lot worse, otherwise."

However 'not worse' it was, that didn't change the fact that Prompto was down there alone, though. Alone in a Cerberus facility that was crawling with unknown beasts, an unknown person, and who knew what else. Mechs? Traps? There was no chance that Noctis was just going to stay put and make Prompto face whatever was down there by himself. Not a chance in hell.

"I'm coming down-"

Ravus hurried forward, stopping Noctis before he could jump into the hole. "Don't be an imbecile, Caelum!" he hissed, yanking Noctis away from the broken ground. "Argentum is fine. We can get to the elevator nearby and get down to the floor below to meet up with him. There is _no need_ for you to make a fool of yourself and play hero by jumping into a hole in the ground." His eyes were narrowed. "That's an order, Caelum."

It was an order, however, that Noctis had absolutely no intent to follow. He yanked his shoulder out of Ravus' grip, backed toward the hole in the ground, then shook his head no. If there were consequences to be had, he would deal with them later. Just because Ravus was with them, didn't mean that he got to call every shot. With that thought in mind, he covered himself in the purple buzz of biotic energy, turned his back on Ravus, and repeated Nyx's words from earlier.

"No one gets left alone."

And with that, he dropped down into the hole.


	20. Expose

It was completely dark and way too quiet when Prompto landed, and only darker once the biotic bubble he'd been using to protect himself popped. Prompto had never been terribly fond of the dark—memories of long nights awake and in the dark, only able to see the tubes and wires connected to his body had given him that aversion—and this was only making that worse.

Vaguely, when he opened his eyes, he could see the purple flashes of the biotic energy that came with a firefight going off above him. The sound of gunfire, the growl of the cat creature that had leaped across and knocked him down to begin with. All of the sounds echoed out around him and forced him back into reality. He pushed himself up into a seated position, and tried to get his bearings in the dark around him. The only light in the whole room was coming from the hole in the ceiling. The hole he'd created when he fell. Before he could get his bearings, a godawful shrieking noise sounded out throughout the whole facility, and Prompto had to hold his ears to keep it from giving him a headache. Wincing with his hands on his ears, he slowly released the hold and then glanced up at the hole. He considered calling out to them for help, but didn't want Noctis getting any crazy ideas of jumping down with him.

Only when he moved to try and stand did the pain set in. A burning pain in his leg. When he looked down, he realized that somewhere in the fall, something had busted the armor on his calf. A spot—about an inch and a half thick—was missing from the green protective Kevlar covering his calf, and in the center of that, jutting out about three inches, was a small cylinder of metal. As he tried to move his leg, he could feel resistance, and could hear the metal scraping the underside of his armor on the other side. It had gone clean through his leg, from the inside straight through to the outside. His armor, though, prevented him from being able to see it on the other side. He hissed in pain, then flicked his eyes upward when Noctis called down to him.

He probably should have answered the first time, but he was trying to assess the damage done to his leg. A few seconds later, though, Noctis called again. Prompto blinked, amazed, and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. It took a few seconds for his voice to find its way from his throat to his mouth, but eventually, he answered. "I-I'm fine..." he told Noctis. Not exactly true. His leg was in a _lot_ of pain, and he still didn't really know the damage to it, but he didn't want Noctis to worry about him.

"I... I hit the ground kinda hard, but I put up a biotic bubble and it kinda broke my fall. Probably would've been a lot worse, otherwise." That part wasn't a lie. If the bubble hadn't broken his fall, what was a simple piece of metal through his leg probably would have been way, way worse. Still, it hurt like hell and that probably showed clearly in his voice. At least to Noctis.

That was only confirmed when the next thing he heard was Noctis saying, "I'm coming down."

Prompto moved sharply, ready to protest, but the sharp movement jarred the metal stuck in his leg and made him hiss painfully. The short lessons he had taken from Luna made him aware of the fact that he needed _not_ to remove it, at least until he could immediately pack the wound with medigel, but he couldn't move _with_ it sticking out of his leg, either. Not without it moving around beneath his skin. There was always the risk of it snapping or bending and hurting his muscles even more. He knew that Luna had what was needed to tend to it on the ship, but that was the problem. Luna was on the ship. He was here.

Before his brain could even catch up, though, the bright purple light of a biotic barrier bathed the rest of the room in its glow. He turned to see what was in the room with him, and relief flowed through him when he spotted Noctis. As much as he didn't want Noctis down here, he really, really did. Sure, his boyfriend was only one person, but to Prompto, he may as well have been the cavalry.

"N-Noct, what are you... I said I was fine!" Prompto tried to keep his cool. Really, he did. But seeing Noctis there, having Noctis right in front of him, smashed right through his wall of confidence and had all of the emotion built up by being in this place spilling over the brim and showing clearly in his terrified expression and shaking voice. "You shouldn't've... you shouldn't..."

Noctis turned toward his voice, the flashlight on his omni-tool finally illuminating the room and momentarily blinding Prompto. Prompto blinked against the light, shielding his eyes with his arm. By the time he uncovered his face, Noctis was in front of him. Almost as though he'd rushed over in one or two giant steps, or run, or jumped, or something. Prompto wasn't complaining. Just having Noctis _there_ was way more of a comfort than it had any right to be. His boyfriend's face, twisted though it was in concern, brought up a swell of relief and another swell of emotion that ended with tears springing to Prompto's eyes.

"Like I wasn't gonna," Noctis answered, crouching down in front of Prompto and looking him over. "Fuck, Prom, what happened? I thought you said you were o-"

Prompto followed his gaze down to the piece of metal in his leg, then glanced back up at him. "I did. I _am_. It's just..." He paused, the disbelieving look on Noctis' face telling him without saying it outright that Noctis knew better than to think that he was actually okay. "I wasn't lying. Not... not really," he insisted. "It would've been a lot worse without my bubble."

With a glum expression on Noctis' face, he nodded. "All this debris? Yeah, definitely. Especially if you hit hard enough for that to jam through your..." Noctis trailed off. His eyes, dark in the near pitch blackness of this room—wherever it was—met his, worry plain as the nose on his face. "Can you stand on your own?" he asked.

As much as Prompto wanted to play it cool, as much as he wanted to tell Noctis that he could stand up, he knew better. Shaking his head no, he glanced down at his leg and bit his lip. "Not without risking screwing my leg up even worse. If that breaks or bends in there..."

Noctis nodded his head. "Right. That'd be bad." He huffed, leaning down a little further. "Think I'm gonna talk to dad about getting proper leg and arm gauntlets. It's been cool and everything, wearing light armor, but between this and..." The sentence stopped there, Noctis clamping down hard on his lower lip with his teeth.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to see where he was going, though. "What happened to Cor?"

Prompto remembered seeing his armor from the med bay; the giant chunk missing from Cor's armor. When it happened, Prompto had been unconscious, so he didn't know exactly how it went down or anything, but he didn't really have to. Nor did he want to. Cor's stomach piece, stained with blood and with a large hole in the center, would be forever etched in his memory. Now this, this piece of metal sticking out of his leg like a claiming flagpole or something, had him thinking that they _definitely_ needed better armor. What if it had gone through his chest? Or through some other vital organ?

"Yeah," Noctis answered glumly. "I wasn't-"

Though the situation was terrifying, Prompto did his best to keep his cool. "It's alright," he insisted.

Noctis worried his lip, nodding his head in acknowledgment. "Do you think you can stand if I help you?" he asked, motioning to his shoulder.

Quietly, Prompto considered it for a couple of seconds. With Noctis' help, he could probably stand. It wouldn't be easy, and all movements would probably be hopping motions, but he could do it. "Probably," Prompto nodded, reaching a hand up to touch Noctis' shoulder, clasping it gently. 

When he tried to move, though, the grip tightened. Partially because it was painful to move his leg, but also partially because he needed the tighter grip to stand up. Once he was up, standing on his right leg, with Noctis on his left for support, he couldn't help but wince at the new position. His knee bent, his lower leg and foot raised in the air behind him, all he could do was hop along while Noctis moved around the room, toward the door.

As they moved, though, something across the room caught his attention. Something that the counter in front of him had previously blocked from view. Through the complete darkness, the light of an electric spark drew his attention. Every now and then, the console above the spark would flash. In one of the flashes, Prompto's eyes widened when he caught sight of the words 'Nemesis Project.' The information on his omni-tool entered his mind, and had him wriggling loose from Noctis' grip. He called his drone for light, and balanced on a table—broken beakers and rusted medical equipment decorated the surface, as well as jars and drawers full of wire and weird implants that Prompto didn't even _want_ to know the origins of—then hopped his way toward the console.

"Prom, what're-"

Holding the hand that wasn't braced on the table back to calm Noctis, Prompto continued toward the console. "This console said something about the Nemesis Project. Remember the file?" he asked. He didn't need to ask. Noctis remembered.

As though to prove that, Noctis hurried up beside him again, ducking down and forcing Prompto's arm around his shoulders, then wrapping an arm around his waist. "Alright, but... let me support you, okay?" There was no indication, verbally, but Prompto could tell that he meant both physical and emotional support. Concern still lined Noctis' eyes, but he flashed a weak smile Prompto's way, in an obvious attempt to comfort him.

It would have worked, probably, if Prompto wasn't so dreading what he'd find. "Thanks. Still pretty sure I'd be lost without you."

"Me too," Noctis replied.

They got to the console together, and Prompto called his omni-tool up, hacking into the console and powering it up. On the screen flashed images; diagrams and charts of different physical characteristics that Nemesis candidates would exhibit if the tests were successful. Spinal implants, if they took, were to enhance their flexibility and agility. Prompto thought of his own bone implants. They _did_ make him more flexible, more agile; but at the cost of periodic and unpleasant spinal shocks. Hip implants both to increase range of movement and to allow extra flexibility—both of _those_ things were true—and implants in each candidate's knees, to increase agility and allow 'hypermobility and true double-jointedness.' That, in Prompto's case, came at the cost of wobbly legs. Each of the side effects was listed, too, under the 'defect' category.

 _Defective Cerberus equipment_ played in his head, in Ravus' voice, and he huffed a breath of sad laughter.

Noctis spoke up before he could continue down that rabbit hole thought process, though. "You're not defective, Prom," he interjected, as though he was reading Prompto's mind, gently nudging Prompto with his shoulder. "You're perfect."

"R-right. Thanks, Noct," Prompto replied lovingly, then gave a single nod, shifting on his leg and scrolling down to the next page of the document. The second page was composed solely of a list of names. Names of people who had been subjected to the Nemesis Project, and whether they were deemed a success or a failure. Prompto blinked. "This is..."

Beside him, Noctis nodded his head. "All of the people who went through the same tests as you did!"

Most of the names were of people that Prompto didn't recognize. The dates, though, told him that he _should_ have been familiar with them. Some were there during the same time he was. Some died, some lived, some were made into these Nemesis things, whatever they were, some failed and were killed. Prompto's own name was near the top of the list, and the document said that he was deemed a failure, and was set to be killed mere days after Noctis' dad and his team came in to clear the place out. The thought had him taking a shaky breath, before giving his head a hard shake in a feeble attempt to chase the thoughts away.

Noctis looked at him expectantly—Prompto wasn't looking at him, no; he could just feel his boyfriend's eyes on him. Not judging, not angry, just worried. "Hey. We should get out of here and..."

Prompto was sure that Noctis' sentence had an end. 'Forget this,' maybe. Or maybe 'find the others.' But Prompto's attention was completely stolen by what was on the holographic display in front of him. "Tummelt, Loqi," he read, in a mumble under his breath. "Success. Nemesis number Zero-Zero-One."

The room was completely quiet, but Prompto could almost hear the air shift as Noctis' head turned to look at the display and read what Prompto was seeing. "Loqi..." he started, blinking at the page, "is a Nemesis? He has... all the same implants as you?" His voice was a conspiratory whisper, as though he expected Loqi or Ravus to jump down into the hole in the ceiling and shoot them.

It was a reasonable fear, even though Prompto was pretty sure, more or less, that the Ravus and Loqi had forced the rest of the team to the elevator. While he was sure Nyx and the others probably wanted to jump down with them, he was _also_ sure that they knew that Noctis wouldn't let anything else happen to Prompto. He was _also_ sure that neither Ravus or Loqi would jump down into the hole behind them. The whispers were still warranted, though. Who knew how close to the door they were, after all?

"Does that mean that he's Cerberus? That he's..." Noctis swallowed thickly. "It looks like he was the first successful one? If that's what the whole Zero-Zero-One thing means. If there's any truth to this, I mean..."

Prompto pointed at his own name. "My own info's right. So, there's _some_ truth to it. What... what do we do?" he asked, turning his head to glance at Noctis and blinking a couple of times in stunned silence. Was this something that they wanted to confront Loqi about? Did Ravus know? Did they _tell_ Ravus?

The silence that came in response told Prompto that Noctis was equally stumped. He stared at Loqi's name again, then thought back. "It makes sense..." he muttered. "It makes perfect sense. Loqi and Ravus wanted my Chaos reports. I didn't give it a lot of thought before, but... I thought it was really, really weird. My dad looked those reports over, told me and Nyx that he and Uncle Clarus would look into it, but for us to keep a local copy of the files. Why would Ravus and Loqi need a copy, if dad and Uncle Clarus were looking into all that themselves?"

"So, you think Ravus is-"

Noctis shrugged. "I don't know. At the very least, if this is all true... I think he knows that Loqi is." He paused. "But why would he want the Chaos reports? All the... all the really, really important info that's on there is stuff about..." Slowly, his voice trailed to a mumble. Then, he cut himself off completely and gasped.

With a clear of his throat, Prompto urged him to continue. "About...?"

"Verstael..." Noctis answered, turning his head and looking at Prompto. "There was info about Verstael and his research in there."

Those simple words sent the gears in Prompto's head spinning into overdrive. Verstael. His biological father. Ravus and Loqi had wanted the files his biological father had kept, for some reason. Blinking and trying to piece together something that Noctis had already figured out, Prompto found his mind drawing a giant blank as he glanced at Loqi's name on the holographic display. "I don't..." he murmured, then turned his head from the display to Noctis again.

It didn't look like Noctis wanted to say it. He looked at Prompto, pleading with his eyes for something—maybe for Prompto to make the connection on his own?—but when it didn't seem to be happening, he raked his teeth over his lip. "You have an older half-brother, Prom. One who was also a subject in the Nemesis Project," he pointed out.

Prompto's eyes widened, then shot back to the display in front of him. He thought back to the documentation from Kadru; the ones that made mention of an older brother but never named him straight out. It was a stretch, wasn't it? A big stretch. In Prompto's mind, though, was the fact that he _himself_ had always felt like Loqi looked like a stronger, more confident version of him. It wasn't possible. There was no way that Loqi was... Loqi _couldn't_ be.

"You really think Loqi could be..." The words came out as a gentle, shaky mumble.

The fact that Noctis didn't respond immediately said more than any words could say. Prompto blinked a couple of times, staring at Loqi's name on the page and pulling in a shaky breath. "Do you... do you think he knows? Or do you... think that maybe he wonders like me? Who his brother is and-"

Noctis called his omni-tool and downloaded this new information onto it, shooting a pulse out to wipe the local copy. "We don't know how true any of this is, Prom. We don't... for all we know, this could just be random information put here to confuse us." He moved around Prompto, supporting him with two hands on his waist so that he didn't have to balance on one foot. "Which is why I don't think we should say anything until I bring you home. Back on the Regalia," he suggested.

Prompto blinked dumbly at him. "But, I-"

"I know," Noctis answered, his tone still glum. "I want answers, too. I want to know what gives him the right to-" Stopping abruptly, he cleared his throat. "But... what if it's true, right? What if we bring it up and we out him as a Cerberus agent in front of Ravus? Or what if Ravus knew? The whole team would be in trouble, right?"

That was a good point. A really good point, actually. Still, what did this mean for the rest of the mission? Did this mean that they just kept working with Ravus and Loqi, not knowing whether they were spying on the Alliance for Cerberus? Were they supposed to continue to act normal around a group of people who could potentially have been _setting them up_ for all the misfortune that had befallen them over the past couple of months or so? What about the information Prompto had found about Loqi? Was he supposed to ignore that, maybe, Loqi was his brother?

Swallowing nervously, Prompto met Noctis' eyes. "I don't know if I can face them again-"

Noctis cut him off by pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "You can," he encouraged, touching his forehead to Prompto's. "You can, okay? I know it. It's not like you have to face them for long anyway, right? We have to take you back to the ship, so Luna can look at your leg. Which means that I carry you back, then give the info to dad and Uncle Clarus. So, it'll be okay. Okay?" He smiled what was supposed to be a comforting smile, but it was halfhearted.

Responding in kind, with an attempt at a comforting smile that probably fell flat, Prompto nodded. "And then... and then your dad will know what to do. Right?" he asked.

"Right."

The sound of a pounding fist against the door jumped Prompto. It shook him almost to his core, actually. He turned his head toward the door, almost losing balance on his one good leg and falling to the floor. Noctis kept him standing, led him to the counter he'd been balanced on before, and said, "hold on to this, alright? While I go see who that is?" He didn't even wait for a reply, just made sure Prompto had a hold on the counter, and walked to the door.

Prompto watched helplessly, charging a biotic blast in his free hand, just in case, while Noctis pressed his ear to the door. Another trio of knocks echoed throughout the room, and startled Noctis back from where he'd been leaning. A familiar—pleasantly familiar, thankfully—voice came over the old, staticky security intercom, and filled the room.

"Noct?" Ignis called. "Prompto?"

Breathing a sigh of relief and releasing the biotic swirl, Prompto looked up at the ceiling, at the speakers. When he glanced back down at Noctis, he saw that his boyfriend had managed to find the other side of the security intercom. "Specs," he replied as he pressed down on the button. "You guys working on the door?"

The relief was clear in Ignis' voice when he replied. "Nyx is right now, yes. He should have you out in-"

"Caelum!" Ravus' voice, loud and furious, cut Ignis off and echoed throughout the room. "You disobeyed a direct order and-"

Noctis, wearing an annoyed scowl, let go of the intercom and smashed the old, malfunctioning piece of equipment with his elbow. Sparks shot out of it like fireworks, until it fizzled out completely. "Oops. Looks like it broke," he deadpanned, turning his attention back toward Prompto again.

Managing a weak laugh, Prompto scratched his head. "You disobeyed a direct order, huh?" he asked, hopping toward the edge of the counter, and draping his arm back around Noctis when he appeared at Prompto's side again.

With a nod, Noctis turned his head to glance at Prompto. "I'd do it a hundred times over."

The smile became a tiny bit more genuine at that. It faded, though, as the door opened. Ravus came into the room and immediately started shouting at Noctis, while over his shoulder, Loqi smiled smugly. Both men seemed content to ignore Prompto's obvious injury. Prompto couldn't help but stare blankly at Loqi. All of the information on Noctis' omni-tool swirled around in his head. When they got back to the ship, when Noctis brought him home, they'd have a chance to talk to the others about all that they'd learned. Ignis would be able to piece it together in ways that Noctis and Prompto hadn't.

Maybe then, he'd get some answers.


	21. Rift

"We've wasted enough time. We need to get to the lower level and see what that reading Scientia found is all about. I'll have a chat with your father later about obeying orders and what that's supposed to mean to you."

Ravus' command was clear, but no one in the room moved to obey. Noctis felt fury—rage—bubbling up from the pit of his stomach, and he shook his head no. "I don't know if you've missed it or not, but Prompto is hurt. Like, really hurt. Piece of metal inside of his leg hurt. We need to go back to the ship so that Luna can-"

When Loqi stepped forth and rolled his eyes, it took all the strength that Noctis had inside of him not to lose his cool and call the man out right in front of everyone. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, challenging Loqi to suggest that there was any better idea than to get Prompto back to the ship. Prompto's whole weight was resting on Noctis' shoulder, and if he tried to suggest that there was a chance that Prompto could make it back to the ship on his own, Noctis would tell him exactly where to go and how to get there. For now, though, he settled for a challenging glare, silently warning the man that whatever defense he was going to give for Ravus wasn't going to work. Prompto needed medical attention. Plain and simple.

Ignis, it seemed, had his back. "I agree with Noctis. While I could do remedial combat medicine and take away his pain until the end of the mission, a piece of metal through his leg needs medical attention from a proper doctor. Lunafreya will be livid if we don't bring him back." Green eyes went to Ravus in appraisal.

Noctis couldn't tell, but he was reasonably sure that the word choice was deliberate. No matter what Ravus had to say about any of the rest of them, no matter what _Loqi_ had to say about anything, Ravus could always be somewhat swayed by Luna's opinion. It seemed, too, like it was happening this time. As soon as the mention of Luna escaped, his expression changed, and he looked from Ignis to Prompto.

"Very well, Scientia. You've made your p-"

Irritation seeped into Loqi's smug smile, and he turned his gaze from Prompto and Noctis to Ravus now. "Ravus," he chastised. "We really need to see what is on the bottom floor of this facility. Is keeping your sister from being angry worth dealing with _Command's_ ire if we don't complete this mission? What's more important? A sibling that you never see, or superiors that are watching your every move?" Every word he spoke saw the annoyance on his face growing more and more.

That had Noctis' eyes narrowing against his will. Given what they'd just discovered about Loqi and Prompto, it felt almost like an attack on Prompto, the fact that Loqi was pushing the position-over-family stance. It wasn't. In the corner of Noctis' mind, he knew that it wasn't, because there was no way that Loqi knew that he'd been found out. The coincidence was just hard for Noctis to deal with at the moment. Especially with the way Prompto was leaning against him, head ducked in embarrassment. Embarrassment was reasonable. Noctis could only imagine that it probably felt like _he_ was the cause of the whole argument. He wasn't, of course. Knowing Prompto, though, he'd feel like it.

It was more than likely that, that made Prompto speak up. "I'm... I'll be okay. As long as Noct doesn't mind helping me," he muttered, his eyes locked on Noctis instead of facing Loqi and the others.

"I never mind," Noctis answered. "But... you don't have to. You know? I can take you back to the ship and we can get you looked at." More than could, really. Noctis wanted to. He _really_ wanted to get Prompto out of this situation, for more than just his physical well-being. That part, though, he wouldn't say aloud. Prompto would almost definitely be embarrassed.

With a shake of his head, Prompto swallowed nervously. "I'm... it's okay. I don't want to hold the team back. And it's not like it's much further, right, Iggy?" he asked, turning his head toward Ignis hopefully.

Ignis looked at the building scan again, and frowned. "Far enough, Prompto," he pointed out. "I'd feel a lot better if we-"

This time, Ravus cut him off. "No. Loqi is correct. We need to get down to the lower laboratory. As soon as we check the thermal scan and get the information from the terminal down there, we can get Prompto back to the ship and get him his medical attention." The last bit was spoken with disdain, like he couldn't believe that Prompto had gotten hurt.

The expression on Nyx's face showed that he was less than impressed, and Noctis could only assume that it was both because Prompto was being put in greater danger, _and_ because this was putting extra work on Luna's plate. "If this ends up putting Prompto on the sidelines long term, you can bet that _I'll_ have words with Command about it," he pointed out. "And don't worry, it won't be with Admiral Amicitia or Ambassador Caelum, either." The last part was muttered under his breath, like while he knew that Ravus would hear it, he also knew that it was a little petty. That was okay, though. Nyx had earned a little pettiness, with all he'd dealt with from Ravus over the years.

Noctis turned to glance at Prompto, then muttered, "mind if I carry you? It'll be easier to keep up with the others that way and-"

"No. It's cool," Prompto whispered in return, hopping just slightly until he was behind Noctis. "Thanks." The last part, he whispered in Noctis' ear, a tone barely loud enough for Noctis to hear without straining.

At first, Noctis wondered why Prompto was thanking him. After a couple of seconds, though, he figured that it probably had something to do with the fact that Loqi or Ravus would more than likely make a big deal about him hobbling behind and taking extra time. It made a flash of anger flicker up from the pit of his stomach as he crouched and grabbed behind Prompto's knees, hoisting him up so that he was on Noctis' back. The thanks were unnecessary. Prompto knew him well enough to know that the weak smile he flashed over his shoulder was supposed to say that.

Loqi was tapping his foot on the ground, looking at Noctis and Prompto like they were wasting his time. "Are you quite finished?" he asked, annoyed. "Because we're wasting valuable time."

Before Noctis could respond, Gladio stepped forward, glaring at Loqi in annoyance. "How about you stop trying to control the damn mission? Last I knew, chain of command here goes Ravus, Nyx, then you." He pointed at Ravus and Nyx when he addressed them.

"It _is_ remarkably telling," Ignis murmured as he walked to Prompto's side, procuring his medical kit, "that Loqi seems to be the one calling all the shots."

A couple of beats of silence likely indicated that Ravus and Loqi were processing Ignis' words. They stared at Ignis as he crouched in front of Noctis and Prompto, and applied a dosage of medigel to Prompto's leg. It was only when he stood back up straight that the first of them caught up with what was going on. The twist in Ravus' facial expression was almost amusing, and Noctis couldn't help the tiniest smirk from crossing his face when his eyes narrowed in Ignis' direction.

Ravus turned to Loqi then, wondering, it seemed, if he'd caught Ignis' implication. Then, he turned back to Ignis, annoyance clear as the nose on his face, and grumbled, "I'm not sure I like your implication, Scientia."

Huffing a humorless laugh, Ignis shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't assume you would, Ravus. That doesn't change the fact that you, as an Alliance admiral, should be calling the shots on this mission, and it seems to be falling to your XO," he cast Ravus an appraising glance, then turned back to look at Prompto's injury.

"Are you implying," Loqi murmured, seeming to have finally limped to the barn, "that he should make every decision on his own, and not take the opinions of the rest of his crew into account?" His expression went right back to its all-knowing, smug, self, like he'd just indisputably won the argument.

Another humorless laugh—not Ignis this time—came from behind the group, from Nyx. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to, because Gladio had him covered. "I mean," he shrugged a shoulder, "that's kinda what he's doing, isn't it? We're all saying that we should abort mission _for now_ , so Prompto can get medical attention, and here's Ravus, listening to you instead of everyone else." He didn't even bother to hide the accusatory layer in his tone.

Right on the tip of Noctis' tongue was a big reveal, a plan to tell everyone about what they'd found on Loqi. He didn't, though. Not here. Not now, when none of them were safe. It ended up being irrelevant, though, because seconds later—through the tension and whatever else—Ignis spoke up from in front of him.

"That should dull the pain, Prompto," Ignis offered as he stood back up straight. "Of course, Noctis should still carry you, to avoid any more bends or breaks in the metal-"

Prompto nodded. "I know. Thanks, Iggy."

Taking the chance to be a voice of maturity, despite how much he probably wanted to punch Ravus right in the jaw, Nyx stepped to the front of the group. "If everyone's done bickering," he murmured, "since it's been decided that we're finishing this up, why don't we get this over and done with so that we can get Prompto back to the ship and get him medical attention." He took the lead, not wasting any more time.

Noctis followed behind the group, with Prompto clinging tightly to him. The tension in his body seemed to spike every time the metal sticking from his calf impacted with Noctis' armor and made a soft scraping noise. It made sense, of course. It probably hurt like hell, every time it was jarred just slightly. Noctis tried to be careful, but there was only so much he could really do. No fewer than five times, was he tempted to just ignore orders again and break off to take Prompto back to the ship. Somehow, though, he managed not to.

When the elevator opened, displaying the bottom floor of the facility, Noctis felt Prompto's grip tense around his shoulders. In front of them, Ravus and Loqi talked about the layout of this floor, while the others looked over Ignis' omni-tool and its scans. In the distraction, Noctis turned his head just slightly to catch Prompto's eye. His expression was much like it had been in the main hall, when memories surfaced. It was worse here, though. Bright blue eyes were wide with horror as he looked around the hall, and he closed his eyes in a slow blink. It looked like he was just barely keeping himself from tears. Again, Noctis wanted to turn around and get him the hell out of here.

"I could see this hallway," Prompto pointed out, "from where they kept me. Sometimes there were other kids here, but most of the time, it was all scientists and security." His eyes wandered around the hallway, then widened in horror. "Does... does this mean that the room that... that _my_ room... is it..."

On this floor. Noctis could feel Prompto's grip tightening, and he brought a hand up, placing it on Prompto's where they closed at his chest. "You don't have to-"

Prompto shook his head no, though. "I think I... want to. For closure, maybe. Or just for morbid curiosity... to see if it looks as horrible as I remember it." He laughed a humorless note. "It's at the end of the hall. If we get a chance, do you think you can?" he asked.

Before Noctis could answer, Ravus turned to them and said, "the intel we need is in the room at the end of the hall."

If there was anything humorous about this in the slightest, Noctis would have marveled at the comedic timing of it all. There wasn't, though. Instead of marveling, he found himself wondering in annoyance if this whole situation was designed to hurt Prompto; to hurt them both. Annoyance overlapped with halfhearted amusement, and Noctis glanced over his shoulder at Prompto. There was an unspoken question in his eyes, asking his boyfriend if he was sure that he was ready; if he was sure that he would be okay. The unspoken answer in Prompto's eyes was that he wasn't sure. And how could he be?

"Guess this saves me from having to sneak away, right?" Noctis asked instead, a sad smile on his face.

Prompto wasn't even covering up his apprehension, but he nodded his head. "Ready or not, right?" he mused, glancing down to where Noctis' blue-armored hand rested on top of his two green-armored hands. "I guess I'm glad you're here with me, if it's gotta happen."

Humming in acknowledgment, as he mentally tuned out everything that Ravus and Loqi were saying, he murmured, "just wish that those two weren't." For more than just the obvious reasons.

In the front of the pack, stood Ravus and Loqi. Though it looked like everyone else was ignoring all of the other rooms as they passed, Noctis didn't. As he walked by, he noted that they were nothing but weird looking laboratories and rooms that looked almost like hospital rooms. Twisted hospital rooms, but hospital rooms no less. From the brief view Noctis got, he couldn't help but notice that metal and wires littered the shelves where medication and gauze should have been. Noctis' lips were a thin straight line. Forcing people to become partially machines. It was horrible. Prompto, to him, was all the more amazing. No matter what they did over the five years that he was captive, his body resisted it.

The subconscious strength of his body was just as strong as his inner-strength, and it made Noctis love him all the more. His hand, where it rested on both of Prompto's, squeezed a little bit. Maybe someday, if he ever got any better with words, he'd tell Prompto exactly how amazing he was. If there were even words for it. Noctis didn't think there were.

When they got to the room at the end of the hall, Prompto's body tensed as the others prepared to breach the door. Just as they had with the front door, though, Ravus and Loqi ignored that procedure and just opened it, walking inside like they knew the place. Given what Noctis now knew—and really wished that he had the chance to share with the rest of the team—it made perfect sense. It made him uneasy, definitely. But it made sense.

Ignis, however, wasn't nearly as comfortable with the idea. The panic that spread across his face while he, Gladio, and Nyx continued with normal breaching procedure, quickly turned to surprise when they got into the room. Other than the obvious horrors of a rundown research facility, the room was empty. No body to match the heat signature. Nothing. A cursory glance to Nyx and Gladio showed that they had similar surprised expressions on their faces. Ignis, though, immediately glanced down at his omni-tool.

"The heat signature..." he muttered, glancing at the display, then up and around the room again.

Nyx looked around the room in shock, too. "It was definitely here. We all saw it. We saw it from right outside the room."

Nodding, Gladio looked around. "Iggy's omni-tool put the person right in the middle of the damn room, right before we came in here. But it looks like..."

"It _looks_ like no one's been here in decades," Nyx finished.

Ignis glanced back down at his omni-tool. "Yet, my scanner very clearly shows that there is someone in here. A lure, perhaps?"

Yes, Noctis was listening. Yes, he was sure it was important. He couldn't focus on that, though. His focus, much like Prompto's behind him, was drawn to the room around them. Wires—rusted from a decade of neglect—hung down from weird machines. The machines themselves all had dead and darkened displays. A reclining bed that looked more like a dentist's chair sat in the middle of the room. It was too small for an adult, but the perfect size for a child. The perfect size for Prompto, when he was a child. Not that Noctis knew that firsthand, but he remembered his dad marveling at how small—how sickly skinny—Prompto had been when he was young.

Prompto wriggled a little, yanking his good leg out of Noctis' grasp. His arms loosed from around Noctis' shoulders. A hand reached out to touch a nearby counter, and he pulled himself from Noctis' grip completely. While part of Noctis wanted to stop him, the rest of him didn't. This was as necessary as it was horrible. For closure.

Noctis walked behind Prompto's hopping steps, lifting his boyfriend's arm from the counter and bracing it around Noctis' shoulders. "You're not alone, Prom," he pointed out in a whisper.

Prompto didn't speak, didn't even really acknowledge Noctis' words, but Noctis could tell that he heard them. The arm around Noctis' shoulders tightened a little, but the other arm reached out, armored fingertips running along the plastic surface of the small reclining bed. "I hated this thing," he mumbled.

"I can't imagine you liking it..." Noctis answered.

Chuckling humorlessly, Prompto nodded. "Right?" he asked. "I remember, I'd look out the window all the time. Most everyone ignored me. The scientists only came in when it was time to check my charts and stuff. The security people would just stand outside the door. Watching. I think one of 'em was there when your dad came, but he ran down the hall at the sound of all the gunfire."

Ignis was the first one to notice their conversation, and he appeared at Noctis and Prompto's side. "This was your room?" he asked Prompto.

With a nod, Prompto looked around again. "There was one researcher that was really nice," he reminisced. "Reminded me of you, actually, Iggy. She brought me this stuffed rabbit, and a TV, so I had more company than just the researchers and the machines. And there was a security guard that reminded me of Gladio. He'd always complain about how they treated me in here. And he'd sneak me lunch from the cafeteria. Once, he even brought me pizza from off-base." A tiny, weak smile crossed his face.

Gladio turned at the mention of his name. Nyx glanced over, too, but from the corner of his eye, Noctis could see that he was very closely monitoring what Ravus and Loqi were doing. Loqi stood over a console, with Ravus behind him, blocking it from view. Obviously, whatever was on that console, was something that he didn't want them to see, and Nyx was very determined to get a look. Suspicion only raised higher when Nyx took a couple steps closer, and Ravus turned and told him to back off.

"Even Cerberus researchers can be good people," Noctis murmured. "Makes me curious as to what could drive anyone to willingly involve themselves with them."

A frown crossed Ignis' face, and he shrugged. "Many of the things we use from day to day originated as Cerberus technology. Omni-tools? A Cerberus researcher came up with them back when Cerberus was still an Alliance group. The promise of a longer lifespan, too, will make people do wild things. Some of the higher grade cybernetics that Cerberus has developed are less-than-moral, but they've been said to cure terminal diseases, or enhance normal lifespans by almost fifty years." His tone was layered. It was obvious that he didn't _approve_ of the circumstances, but that he understood it.

Prompto, too, nodded. "The problem is that only special cases get the higher grade cybernetics. And even _with_ those special cases, there's always-" His eyes darted back to the small bed- "there's always a chance they won't take."

The room went silent after that, and as Noctis watched Prompto look around the room, his ear caught Ravus' voice. "They're not here?" he hissed in Loqi's ear. "Where _are_ they, then?"

Everyone turned to look at Ravus and Loqi. "Is there a problem?" Nyx asked from behind them, stepping forward, and ignoring Ravus' command for him to stay back.

"The documents we're looking for. They aren't here. Intel placed them in a very specific project file. Something called the Nemesis Project. Orders were to gather the files and bring them back to Command so that they could examine them. We searched every single file on the system, and nothing exists on the Nemesis Project." Loqi looked furious as he gestured toward the console. "Someone must have wiped the local copy."

Noctis blinked, and his eyes went to Prompto at his side. Prompto met his eyes, but the pair turned to look back at Loqi as he had his little tantrum, trying to feign nonchalance. The tantrum did little more than confirm their suspicions. Ignis was the only one who seemed to catch on to Noctis and Prompto's "nonchalance," but his immediate reaction—aside from the questioning look that he cast Noctis' way, which faded into an understanding one; like he realized at least part of what was going on—was to turn back to Loqi and shrug his shoulders.

"Or perhaps your intel was wrong? Many things about this place seem off. My omni-tool still very clearly shows a heat signature right between where Gladio and Nyx are standing. Perhaps someone came in before us. Placed the lure to get us down here and show you that the intel is gone." Ignis' voice was calm as ever.

Loqi, on the other hand, wasn't calm in the slightest. "No. My intel isn't wrong. It was here! It was _here_ and-"

_"Regalia to ground team!"_

Each earpiece buzzed with static, and Iris' loud voice so close to his ear when every other voice was at least _some_ what far away, jumped Noctis almost clear from his armor. Iris' tone was frantic. Panicked. _"Guys, please answer!"_

"Iris?" Gladio answered, his finger pressing the communication button. "Iris, are you okay?"

A gasping breath that sounded like Iris was running from something, and rustling leaves, had Noctis wondering exactly what was going on. When Iris responded, the worry only tripled. _"Gladdy! Gladdy, that probe started going_ nuts _, so Aranea evac'ed us all off the ship!"_

Ignis responded. "Good, good. Get as far from the-"

 _"No! No, not good!"_ Iris replied, her voice panicked. _"We got a little ways away from the ship and_ tons _of mechs showed up! Weskham was helping Aranea and Cindy try and fight them off, but Cindy got hit by a mech bullet in the shoulder and Luna's trying to tend to her and I've been trying to get touch with you but comms have been scrambled! I just got past the scramble and we_ really need _your help!"_

Mechs. The probe went off and mechs appeared? Did that mean that Iris was right? That the probe was some kind of beacon or something that broadcast their location to Cerberus troopers in the area or something? Or with the information Noctis had on his omni-tool, did _Ravus_ have mechs on his ship? There was no way. There was _no way_ he would put Luna in danger like that. The mechs had to be left over from when the facility was still in its prime. Right?

Before Iris had even finished her sentence, Prompto had already hopped around behind Noctis and jumped up on his back. The Regalia crew didn't even bother to wait for permission from Ravus or Loqi. They were out the door in a flash, hurrying back for the elevator. Noctis thought that maybe he heard Ravus telling them to slow down, but no one listened. There was no way they were taking it slow when their crew needed their help.


End file.
